The First Year
by whatevergirl
Summary: John McGarrett wasn't sure what to expect when he died, he had always tried to not think about it too much. He had not expected to be able to see his family again, nor to see his son develop a life outside the Navy. The Williams family had always had a connection to the other world. He knew there was something odd about the McGarrett home, just not what it was. Grace knew more. S/D
1. John McGarrett

_Hawaii Five-0 is not mine. I make no money from writing this. I only own DVDs and an over-active imagination._

* * *

_Just to help:_

_There are numerous different elements, which is a broad phrase including fire, air, death, body, mind etc._

_They usually run in family lines and particular areas have more prominent elements than others._

_Not everyone has a connection to an element, and most people don't even know about them._

_Within each element, there are different abilities, but there is overlap. For example, people with a connection to air may be able to breathe underwater, but so may those within the water element._

_Within the death element is life: I have decided this includes the different sections of life, including family. This is why Grace and Danny can see family lines, it's an additional ability they have._

_I think that covers it, but let me know if anyone is confused still :)_

* * *

It all started on the 20th of September, 2010. Actually, it started before that; it started April 19th, 1992 when they had killed Doris. His beautiful wife had been killed in a car bomb; the yakuza were bastards and he had been focussed on making them pay for it.

Doris... Even now it hurt. He had seen the body, the charred remains. It had been impossible to recognise her gentle face in the blackened lumps of skin. He had done the only thing he could do; he had sent his children away.

If Doris dying had been painful, it was nothing compared to Steve's face when he had informed him of the plans. He sent Steven to stay with Joe; the man would keep the boy safe. Where better to stay safe from the yakuza than in a naval academy? Steven had been furious, that look of silent anger so reminiscent of John's father that it had felt like another pain.

All his hurts rolling into one. He was no idiot; he knew that just because he had named his son after his father it did not make him the same person. He thought about his father, the way the man had always been cool, almost unfeeling. When he had been young, John had not understood why his father had not cared... Now, he was better informed; now, he was aware that his father hiding his feelings did not mean he had them. He wished his father had survived the war, that they had had more time to get to know each other.

John hid his own feelings though, not wanting his children to see his pain. That pain had remained hidden for the rest of his life. Even in the last days of his life, he had not known how to tell his children that he loved them. He remembered after their mother had died, Mary had slept on the floor in Steven's room. He was not sure splitting them up had been the right idea, but Deb had promised to love and protect Mary. With Joe and Deb focussed on his children, John had turned his attention to solving Doris' murder.

The more he uncovered, the more he was concerned; all he could see was a tangled web of lies that locked Wo Fat, Pat Jameson and Hiro Noshimuri together. He had been blind to anything else; to his children growing up without him, trying to earn his love; to the way the problems in other areas of the police force; to Victor Hesse sneaking into his home.

As he sat tied to that chair, as he listened to the man threaten his life, it occurred to John McGarrett, that he couldn't remember the last time he had told his handsome boy or his wonderful little girl the words 'I love you'.

When the phone was pressed to his ear, John made sure he told Steven; he got the words out. He also pointed him in the direction of his investigation. The last things he heard in this life was Victor Hesse snarling while his son shouted down the phone. At least the pain stopped.

* * *

John McGarrett's afterlife started in what he imagined was a very different was to his first one. He liked to think he came to a slow awareness the first time round; this time he found he could move his hands and brought them up in a flinch.

The strange feel made him open his eyes, he jumped up and shuddered; it felt as though he had just pulled himself up out of warm water and emerged into a cold environment. He looked around the room; his body was slumped down in the chair, unmoving with blood flowing...

"Anton..." He heard a wreaked voice whisper behind him. Hesse took a deep breath then began barking orders out.

The two men hurried about as John watched with a distinct feeling of detachment. He kept his eyes away from his body while he waited to wake up; it turned his stomach.

Hesse and his associate left quickly and quietly. John left the room and sat himself down on the stairs. He had to be asleep; people didn't die and just remain around...

He jumped when the doorbell rang, hurrying over to answer it; his hand passed straight through the door handle. John repeated the action several times; unable to understand why it wasn't working. He frowned and focussed on what he was doing; this time he could hold the handle, but was completely unable to move it.

"John McGarrett? This is Detective Danny Williams and Detective Meka Hanamoa; are you there"

"_I can't open the door. You'll just have to come in_." He replied... His voice sounded a little odd, almost like an echo.

"Come on, Danny. No one is there."

"I really think we should go in..."

"Danny, this guy was a cop; one of the best I ever knew! He can take care of himself."

"Meka..."

"Ok, brah, I got your back."

The handle pushed down and two cops came inside. One was a handsome native, the other a short blonde man. They walked straight through him.

"Uh, cold!" Yelped Detective Williams loudly. " OH! A body... Meka? Call it in, buddy."

The small detective had turned and walked straight back out the room, standing beside his partner.

Watching Hanamoa dial HPD, John made a quick decision; he reached out, all his attention on the man and tried to touch him. He felt the cloth of his shirt, the soft feel of his skin. Hanamoa didn't turn around.

The dead man turned his attention to the other man; with the same focus he reached out, prodding the rough material of the man's shirt and getting no response, he focussed on grabbing his wrist. Detective Williams gasped and jumped back.

"You ok?" Asked Hanamoa, his dark eyes openly showing their concern.

"Yeah." Murmured Williams. "Must have caught a draft or something..." He didn't sound convinced, but the two men left the house as they waited for the CSU to arrive. John waited in the house; he felt no desire to leave.

* * *

The first time he ventured outside after death, John was felt a great deal of surprise. There were several people wandering about, chattering and going about their normal life; but there were others as well. John could see a young woman in waist high jeans and a tank top sat at a bus stop; her eyes were unfocussed and her head had a large wound on it. There was an old man shuffling down the street, normal in every way if you ignored the way other people walked through him. Another old man was smoking a pipe, the gunshot wound right between his eyes didn't seem to bother him; a child giggled as she scrambled past him, her t-shirt not hiding the finger marks around her neck...

He looked back at his house, wondering if it would be better to just stay inside.

"Hi." A young boy was stood in front of John, his bright eyes shining; he wore a rash guard and board shorts, but the shirt was stuck to his side with blood.

"Hello."

"You're new." John wanted to object to that; Hawaii was his home... but he thought about it for a moment.

"I suppose I am. What's your name, son?"

"Peter. Who are you?"

"John."

"Nice meeting you." And the boy ran off, spotting the young girl and chasing after her with a squeal. John wanted to say something, to object to the fact that they were clearly dead... but there was nothing to say. He set off down the street, looking around at the people. It occurred to him that the others must be able to see his gunshot wound, as he could see what caused their deaths; it was strange that he didn't care, as though the fact that he was dead had not quite registered yet.

He really didn't know what to do about that, so he continued on to the morgue where he found Dr. Bergman cleaning his body up.

* * *

The funeral was hard. Steven had looked striking in his uniform but his face had been closed off. Like his father, like himself, Steve had closed off his emotions, hidden them away.

Mary had not attended.

The idea was more painful than anything else; more painful than Doris dying, more painful than sending his kids away, more painful than when Hesse had beaten him up; his daughter had not attended his funeral. His son had stood there, alone and closed off...

It was actually quite nice to see who had turned up though. The majority of the HPD seemed to have arrived, and he was pleased to see Chin Ho Kelly standing off to one side. All that paled though, when he looked at the empty space beside Steve...

Afterwards, he had hurried back to the house. One thing he had realised was that while he couldn't take cars anymore, he didn't tire out either; so he jogged back home. Detective Williams was inside standing beside Detective Hanamoa. He was rambling away, as usual, but the topic was a little different.

"...and you, my friend, are ill. You ought to be at home, with your feet up, not working. I've got Gracie this weekend; you know how annoyed I'll be if I miss it 'cause you collapse and end up in hospital. What if I catch whatever it is, then I'll be even more pissed. C'mon buddy, I'm driving you home."

"Danny, I'm good." Hanamoa took advantage of the gap.

"Good? Good?! You look like you got flu! How is that good? Tell me that, my friend; how is that good? You look like death warmed over. Come on, I'm taking you home. Amy will not be happy if you do a full day like this. You need rest!"

"Urgh... Whatever you say, brah. Can I cuddle the bunny that's in the back of your car?"

"Cute, Meka. Real cute."

John sighed in relief as they left. Williams was loud, abrasive and he made John smile. The way he treated his emotions was the exact opposite of their family; Williams very much pushed his feelings in your face, forcing them to be dealt with. From the little he had seen, it seemed very effective in getting him what he wanted, even if it did anger a lot of people on the way.

As he wandered off to relax, John heard the door open downstairs. He wondered if Williams was back already, and if he could be bothered to go see him. After a few minutes, he did pull himself up though. There was no point lying around, he didn't actually get tired anymore, he couldn't sleep.

Steve was on his knees by the desk.

_"Steve!_" He called out, forgetting that his son would be unable to hear him. The young man snapped a photo of the desk surface before heading into the garage. John winced when the door creaked; he had been meaning to fix that for some time... It was too late for that now though.

Watching Steve uncover the Mercury gave him a stab of regret. They hadn't finished it... Steve had visited when he had been forced to take leave; during that time they had done bits, but it wasn't finished... He turned away, unable to view the pain in his son's eyes. The clatter of tools made him turn back though, and he watched as Steve stared at the toolbox, before opening it and rifling through.

He frowned when he heard his voice on the tape recorder; it was one thing he never liked to hear, hear himself speak. A bang caused his son to shut it off and close the toolbox.

"You! Hands up! Don't move!" Detective Williams was back.

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

"I am Detective Danny Williams." Williams was speaking at his usual volume; slightly too loud.

"Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, this is my father's house-" John hurried over, focussing his attention on his son. It would be no good if Steve shot the man investigating his murder. He touched Steve's skin, but his son didn't even twitch.

"Put your weapon down right now!"

"No, you put your weapon down. Show me your ID!" Commanded Steve, shouting over Williams.

"...put- No, you show me your ID, right now!"

"I'm not putting my gun down."

"Neither am I." Williams replied softly.

"Use your free hand, take out your ID." John sighed. He clearly hadn't raised his son to be trusting...

"Please, after you." Williams curled his lip slightly as he flicked his gun

"At the same time?" Steve tried for a compromise.

"At the same time?"

"Yeah, at the same time." Steve was raising his voice again.

"What, like on the count of three?" The sarcasm in Williams' voice was heavy.

"Sure, okay. Three is good."

Counting, they both pulled out their wallets, displaying their ID. John folded his arms as he stared, wanting the two to get along.

"He's a good kid, Steve." John muttered, knowing his son would not be able to hear him. Williams turned his head in his direction for a moment, as though he had heard something, but his focus quickly returned to the man before him.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about your father but you can't be here right now. This is an active crime scene."

"Doesn't seem that active." John rolled his eyes at the response.

"I can't share any information with you." Williams' voice was quite gentle.

"Hesse wasn't in here alone when my father was murdered. Someone was sitting at the desk in the study. There was a space cleared or a thirteen inch laptop and my father hated computers." Steve replied in an equally gentle voice. John smiled though, when he realised he had never told his son that, but he had noticed anyway.

"I'm gonna ask you again, you gotta leave."

"You got it." Steve grabbed the toolbox and began to walk.

"And you can leave the box. That is evidence, you know that." Williams was again talking at his normal volume.

"I came with this." John and Danny both rolled their eyes at that.

"No, you didn't come with it. I see the dust void it left right here on the counter." Williams walked over to the space and turned around. "What's in the box? What are you hiding in there?"

"How long have you been with the Honolulu P.D.?"

"None of your business. What? Are you Barbara Walters?" Williams wrinkled his nose at Steve.

"No, it is my business if you're investigating my father's death."

"I am." Williams got himself back on track. "And I'd like to get back to that; so the sooner you leave, the sooner I can."

"Anything you say."

"Leave the box or get arrested. All right?" John hoped Steve would use his brain...

"You gonna call you back up?"

"An ambulance." Steve raised his chin, looking as though he was trying not to smile. John had no need to hide his smirk.

"Thank you." Said Williams, when Steve put the box down.

"Don't thank me yet." John frowned as his boy pulled out a phone, wondering what he was up to.

"Oh, yeah. Governor Jameson, please. Tell her it's Steve McGarrett." What happened to starting with hello...?

"Oh, please." Scoffed Williams.

"_Commander? Governor James here. What can I do for you?_" Came Pat Jameson's tinny voice over the speaker.

"Gotta be kidding me." muttered the detective, a scowl on his face.

"Governor, I'll take the job." Said Steve, taking the phone off speaker. "No, let's just say I found something that changed my mind... No, no, no. Immediately. I'll transfer to the reserves and I'll run your task force."

John raised his eyebrows at that. A task force? With his son in charge? He knew nothing about police procedure...

"Wait, what, right now...? Okay." Steve huffed at the phone, but shifted it over to his left hand, raising his right one. "I, Steven, J. McGarrett do solemnly declare upon my honour and conscience that I will act at all times to the best of my ability and knowledge in a manner befitting an officer of the law... Thank you, governor."

He hung up and grabbed the tool box.

"Now it's my crime scene."

Detective Williams glared at him in silence, before following him out the door. As Williams left, Steve dropped the toolbox onto the table.

"_You're in over your head here, Steve_." Muttered John.

"Guess I'll swing by the precinct."

Once Steve had left, John headed outside. He grinned at Anela as she hurried past him, the child still rushing about as she had when he had first seen her. He chuckled as he watched Peter running after her.

As his eyes roamed he saw the young woman sitting at the bus stop again. Her eyes were unfocussed as ever, but she was rocking slightly where she sat. He headed over.

"Aloha." He said gently.

"Hi." She said, turning her head towards him. Her dark eyes remained unfocussed, but she smiled and tucked some of her long black hair behind her ear.

"I'm John."

"Keala."

"That's a beautiful name."

"Thank you."

He sat beside her for a few minutes, trying to decide how to ask what he wanted to know.

"You're lost?" She spoke up before he had collected his thoughts.

"I think so. I died."

"Me too; nearly 30 years ago."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah. You need Kōkua, though."

"Help...That's why I'm here."

"I can't give it to you yet. Just wait and help will come to you."

"Ok."

"I'll tell you though, if you want to do something, focus on it."

"So, I can sleep?"

"It's not sleep... You just... move forwards."

"Thank you."

" 'A'ole pilikia."

"Aloha 'oe."

"Aloha."

* * *

He gave it a try, focussing hard on having some rest. It was exhausting to be up and about all the time; even though his body didn't need the rest, his mind did.

"Your, uh, brain must be a miserable place." He heard Williams say as he came back. He turned around to see the small man stood next to his son. "I need a beer."

The man wandered off into the kitchen and Steve grinned. The two men went out to the lanai, but John didn't follow. He hadn't wanted to listen in on every detail of his son's conversations before and he didn't want to start.

He may not be able to switch the television on, but he didn't want to invade Steve's privacy.

* * *

When Steve left in the morning, John decided he would walk down to the beach. He waved at Keala as he passed the bus stop and allowed the children to run past him as they played. He called out to Endora and Akamu as he passed the old couple, they smiled and called back.

He realised he was not alone. His son was alive and well; looking as though he was making friends on the island. Steve would be fine.

John just needed to find some place for himself in this strange afterlife.

When he got back, Steve was home. It was the end of what had clearly been a busy day for the man; he had one arm in a sling and numerous cuts on his face. That didn't bother him though, because Steve was on the phone will Detective Williams; there was a large grin breaking across his face. It seemed Steve had shot Hesse today, but the man's body had not been found. John didn't mind though.

They would be fine.

* * *

As time passed by, John began to realise how much of a health nut his son was. It wasn't a criticism, it wasn't a complaint, but it was an observation. His son got up early every morning to go swimming; every single morning. If he didn't swim, he got up early to go for a jog.

He found that Detective Danny Williams had started coming over every morning as well. Some days he got there before Steve got back in, and simply waited on the lanai, or days he got there later on and just waltzed in. They tended to carpool to work, but John was finding he actually quite liked the loud blonde.

One morning in particular, Steve was listening to the recording John had made; John himself was sat on the stairs, out of the way because he liked neither the sound of his voice or the emotions that flitted across his son's face as he listened to the tape. Detective Williams slipped quietly inside, not making a noise until he shoved the front door shut.

"What is it with you and walking into people's houses?" asked Steve as he turned in his chair.

"I knocked." Lied Williams.

"I didn't hear you knock."

"Well, I did. I knocked and I saw you through the window and I thought you nodded."

"Didn't nod."

"Would you like me to leave?" asked Williams, still not seeming to recognise the problem.

"Depends. What's in the bag?"

"Oh, those doughnut looking things they sell around the block."

"Malasadas?"

"Yeah, whatever they are; they're fried and they taste good. You want one?"

"No. Not without bypass surgery." Naturally. John lamented the fact that Steve was missing out on the good things in life. "And you can stay; just don't eat near my stuff." He pulled a face as Williams stuff a bite into his mouth.

"Can I have a napkin?" John snorted with laughter, this kid had given the exact same response he would have; wind the other person up as best he could... But John had never gotten around to acting like that with his kids.

"Yeah." Steve grinned, looking as though he was trying not to outright laugh.

"What was that look? What, they teach you how not to spill in the army?"

"It's the Navy, okay? The Navy." Steve wandered over, brandishing a napkin. "It's not the spill. It's the tie. No one in Hawaii wears a tie." This was a good point.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Replied Williams, not looking sorry at all while Steve tidied up the mess the smaller man had made. "I like to look like a professional."

"A professional what?" John grinned as he watched them. It reminded his of being little and listening to his parents banter.

"Okay, this is my favourite tie. Grace gave me this tie for Father's Day. Oh, and also, so you know, back in Jersey and every normal city in this country; this is what a detective looks like."

"Really?" John watched his boy step back, hands on his hips.

"Yeah, really."

"Yeah. Shirt, tie, doughnut crumbs. You missed a spot. You're never gonna fit in here looking like you're from the mainland."

"Who says I wanna fit in? I don't wanna fit in. I wanna look like I'm from the mainland!" His voice was starting to rise in volume. "Okay, I got eighty seven homicide cases under my belt, looking like this."

"Not in a hundred and ten degree weather. I'm just saying."

"I'm not taking off the tie."

"Fine."

"So leave it alone."

"Okay."

"Okay? You wanna discuss my shoes?"

"Well, now that you mention it; patent leather loafers?"

"Will you, uh, do me a favour, please? Just let it go."

Steve grinned again, but he shut the toolbox and sat back down as Williams sighed.

"That your dad's stuff?"

"Yeah."

"You getting anything from it?" John was sure Williams glanced in his direction there...

"More questions than answers. Talk to the coast guard?"

"Yeah. They didn't find Victor Hesse's body yet. That does not mean that they won't." Williams insisted as Steve pressed his face into his hands.

"What if he's alive?"

"You emptied a mag into the guy. He's fish food."

John walked off as Williams continued to reassure his son. He heard a phone ring and then the two men were bickering again as they headed out the door. He followed them out, walking straight through the door as Steve shut it behind him.

He headed straight over to the bus stop, as usual, to see Keala. She smiled in his direction, her eyes still not actually looking at him.

"Aloha."

"Hey, kid." He greeted. "I was thinking; want to go for a walk around today?"

"Sure." She shrugged. They headed out. The walk was slow, and John was relieved that he could not feel the heat.

"Can we leave? This... place, I mean."

"Do you see every person who has ever died on Hawaii here?"

"I... guess not." He sighed. Some people moved on, to God, or whatever; some seemed to stay here.

"It's not everyone who died who comes here anyway."

"It's not?"

"We all have something in common."

"A violent death."

"Yeah. None of us just faded away." Her voice was as flat as ever, but John's thoughts drifted to the children who ran around... Violent deaths...

"So, I will be able to leave?"

"Eventually."

"How?" It wasn't that he didn't want to see his son, but he wasn't really living here.

"Same way as with anything; focus. It takes practice though. Some people just blink out of existence for days, months... sometimes years. I think that you can't go until you are actually ready."

"So, we just have to drift around, watching people who can't see us." He surmised.

"Not exactly. There are some families who are more connected to the mystic world than others. You get psychics, magicians, fortune tellers... Not all of them are liars."

"Huh..." he sighed. He wanted to stay in some ways. He wanted to see how Steve got along, to see if he found love, to see if he got family. He couldn't bear the idea of never finding out. He wanted to see Mary again.

It occurred to John, as they walked, that perhaps Danny Williams had some of the mystic blood in his family. There were times John was sure Williams was aware of him, but he had never been able to actually talk to him. It would have been nice to be able to give Steve a message through the man.

He continued to walk beside Keala, his mind drifting from Steve, to Mary, to Doris, to the future of the McGarrett family line.


	2. Grace Williams

The day started very early for Grace Williams. She crawled out of bed at half six in the morning to get ready for a tennis lesson. It wasn't her favourite thing to do, but she was getting better and her instructor, Rusty Komori, said she was improving.

There may have been days, she could admit, where she had dreams of being a famous tennis player, of doing tournaments and winning. She had decided she would like to be good enough to win a grand slam tournament; you won money in those, and she could give it to Danno.

Today was a different matter though; today she was going to see The Kukui Kings play football. Her dad had planned it ages ago and Grace was super excited. She was going to meet Steve. Her Danno really liked Steve; he spoke about this man all the time: '_He's insane. He really is_!', '_I don't know where he learnt to drive, but he can't have passed the test_!' or '_You'll probably like him, Sweetie. He's an idiot, but he is sort of a good guy_.'

Steve was the one who had bought them tickets for the hotel where they had got to swim with dolphins; Danno didn't need to say anything about him, he was already one of her favourite people for that!

"All finished up, babe?" She heard a familiar voice cut through the air and she grinned, nodding her head at her dad. "Ok, you ok to go or are you all smelly? Cos, I don't want you getting in the car if you're gonna smell it up!"

She giggled. "All good, Danno."

She waved goodbye to Kale, who was sat in his usual spot in the corner of the fence, his bloodied face frowning as she left. "Don't worry; I'll be back next week." She called to her friend.

"I know you will, Grace." Rusty replied, looking confused. Danno continued to lead her away, even as she looked up at him.

"I wasn't talking to Rusty, I was talking to Kale. That wasn't polite."

"No, babe. It wasn't." He stopped by the car and looked down at her. "Remember how we said not everyone can see what you do?"

"You can."

"No, monkey. I have an idea of when there is someone there, but I can't actually see them." She tried to cast her memory back, she had been sure Danno could see them.

As she scrambled into the car and put her seatbelt on, she thought about the fact that she could see dead people. It was normal. Her dad often had to remind her that not everyone could, but back in Jersey she hadn't been the only one, so it was sometimes easy to forget. Her dad had never told her what he could do.

Danno checked her seatbelt, as though she couldn't do it herself and then pulled on his own. As they pulled out, Grace decided to try finding out again.

"Danno, if you can't see dead people, what can you do?" Her dad flinched and was silent as he continued to drive. He was quiet for so long that Grace began to worry; had she upset him?

"I can see people's family lines, like you can." They could both see little threads coming off people. They all attached to someone else, so long as they were related; she and Danno could see how they were related: brother, sister, cousin... There were threads for those who were married. It wasn't red like the blood ties, but blue. People normally only got one of those. She could never remember her Danno having one with her mom, but maybe she just hadn't noticed it. Karen at school said that sometimes you didn't notice things because they were so normal.

"And..."

"... And I can move dead bodies." Cool.

"So, if we saw a dead bird, you could make it get up and fly?"

"I dunno, Grace. Birds I never tried. When I was little I could make dead cats get back up, but it makes me tired."

She grinned. That was so cool! Her Danno was amazing. They stopped at a sandwich shop on the way, sitting on the warm benches to eat. Grace knew she was fidgeting more than normal, but she was nervous about meeting her dad's friends. She turned and focussed on people's lines instead, matching up who was related to whom while she finished her food.

It was just after ten when they finally got around to moving off again. Grace stared out the window as the houses whizzed by, taking a deep breath as they pulled into the car park.

"Here we are, babe. Only a little late."

They bought two foam hands that she had seen first, because you needed something to cheer with at football and then battled their way through the stands to Danno's friends.

"Sorry we're late." Her dad called out.

"Hi Gracie. I'm Steve." Said the man with the blue t-shirt on. He had a nice smile. "It's great to meet you finally. Your dad, he talks about you all the time."

"He talks about you a lot too." She replied, smiling up at Steve. When everyone laughed she grinned even more; she must have been funny! Good. She wanted Steve to like her because he was important to Danno.

"Really? Does he?"

"We, uh, commiserate. It's a father-daughter thing." Her Danno looked a little embarrassed...

"Hi, I'm Kono." Said the pretty woman next to her.

"Hello."

"And I'm Uncle Chin." Said the man in the football shirt behind her.

"Are you a football player?" she asked.

"I used to be. I used to play quarterback for that red ream."

"He was a legend too," said Steve, leaning closer, "until, uh, until I came along and shattered all his records." He fist bumped her. Grace decided he had to be the coolest friend Danno had ever had. He could stay.

"That's a really pretty tennis outfit." Said Kono with a smile at her. Grace grinned again; that was sure to set her dad off.

"Yeah, I had to pick her up today at a country club." Yup, she was right. Her dad covered her ears up. "Ahem. Step-Stan decided that she should start taking tennis lessons." He would be okay with it when she got really good though.

"What's wrong with tennis, Danny?"

"I'll tell you what's wrong. Tennis? It can be played on a table which makes it an activity, not a sport. You throw the ball, I catch the ball. That is a sport." He was swaying her head as he moved his hands. Her dad never could keep them still when he was talking. "All right? It is my duty as a father to teach my daughter the difference."

"Dad, I can still here you." She called out, figuring she should probably stop the rant before he got going. She didn't want him to upset his friends by being boring.

"Well, you're not supposed to be listening to me." He leaned in close, pressing his nose against her temple. She could breathe in his comforting smell. "You're supposed to be paying attention because it's football, it's a sport."

She was more interested in his friends though and tried to turn around to look at Steve. The action made her tummy grumble a bit.

"Danno? I'm hungry."

"How can you be hungry when we ate an hour ago?" It was actually less than an hour since they had eaten. The minutes hand on her watch was pointing at the nine. She plastered a big smile on her face as she looked at her father.

"We didn't eat nachos an hour ago." That was what her tummy was hungry for, she was sure.

"What was I thinking about? Of course we didn't. Come on, let's go." He took her hand and they headed off.

"Hey, get me some." Called Steve to her. She nodded as she heard Uncle Chin say 'bye'.

She looked around as they headed out of the stands. There were actually very few dead people around here. That was slightly surprising, but maybe people were happy enough to move on if they died while watching football.

"I mean, is this place great or what?"

"Mm-Hmm."

"Huh? It's a real ball park here. Remember Yankee Stadium?" She made noises to agree with her dad as she hurried forwards to see what they had to eat at the stall.

"Okay, we got popcorn, we got corn dogs. They don't have that kinda food at country club, do they?"

"Well, they have hot dogs," She informed her dad, "but they don't come on a stick."

"No stick? That defeats the whole purpose." Danno's attention had wandered over to someone else. She turned around to see a couple of men walking past. One knocked into another man, but Grace's attention was taken up by the man following them. Although she had been seeing dead people her whole life, this man had half his face blown away.

She spun away, clutching her belly. Danno crouched down next to her.

"You ok? Come on?" Her stood up and took her hand, hurrying them away.

"Excuse me?" Danno approached a woman, pulling out his wallet. "I'm a police officer. I need you to do me a favour. This is my daughter, Grace. I want you to take her and your daughter into the bathroom and wait there until I get back, okay?"

"Okay."

"Thank you. Hey." He looked into her eyes. "Monkey, listen to me. This nice lady is gonna watch you for a little bit. I want you to go with her, okay?"

"Daddy." She said softly. She still felt sick and she just wanted a cuddle.

"Hey. I'm just gonna go make sure there's no bad guys, that's all. I'll be right back. Come here." He pressed a kiss to her cheek, but it wasn't enough. She thought of the dead man and threw her arms around him.

"Be careful." Her voice came out a whimper, but her dad held her for another moment.

"Always am. I love you, go on."

Grace hurried off with the woman. The bathroom was empty but the lady sat Grace up on the counter.

"That's a lovely dress you have. Do you play tennis?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna make enough money from it to look after my dad."

"Oh, that is sweet." She smiled.

Grace frowned as she heard people screaming. Someone ran past the bathroom screaming about a gun. The lady looked frightened. She grabbed her daughter's hand and they ran off. Grace followed. Danno had told her to stay with them.

The corridor was full, lots of people running around. Everyone was scared. Tears filling her eyes, Grace tried to spot the lady. She did not want to disappoint her dad by losing her.

"Grace?" Was that Danno?

"Daddy!"

She spotted him by the bathroom and ran straight over. Her dad wrapped his strong arms around her, mumbling into her shoulder.

"You okay? Huh? You okay?"

She nodded and her dad pulled her into another cuddle. She wrapped her arms and then her legs around him. He staggered a little, but stood up and walked them outside.

As her dad spoke to a policeman, she clung to him, her eyes moving around as she looked for Steve. Danno kept her safe and Steve would keep her dad safe. He was big and strong and Danno got into trouble a lot.

"Monkey?" whispered Danno. "These nice men here are gonna take you back to your mom's, okay?"

"I wanna stay with you." She squeaked, tightening her grip on his neck. "Can't I stay with you and Uncle Steve?"

"Uncle Steve? Huh? Well, I would love you to stay, monkey, but I need to work."

She sighed and let her legs drop. Danno carefully put her down and pressed a kiss to her nose, then her forehead.

"Love you, Danno."

"Love you too, Gracie."

The car ride was quiet, but she stared out the window. She wanted to cry. She had wanted to get to know her dad's friends and now they wouldn't have another chance for two weeks. Maybe her mom would let her phone Danno and ask him to bring Steve when he picked her up for school on Wednesday.

* * *

It wasn't until that evening that she got to see Danno again. She grinned because she hadn't expected her mom to let her go, but the men who had just been by had upset Step-Stan. He had told her mom that she shouldn't keep Grace from her father.

"Go on, Grace." Whispered Stan, with a smile.

Grace ran outside to see Danno, jumping into his arms. "Daddy!"

"Oh, gosh..." He muttered as he held her close.

"Guess what, I think I know what I want for my birthday."

"Tell me."

"A football. A squishy pink one." She had thought about it while she had been sulking in her room. She could do tennis and football, easy.

"A squishy pink one? Urgh." He pulled her into another hug, rocking them both slightly. "That's the second best news I've heard all day."

She smiled into his neck. Her dad gave the best hugs.

Because her mom and Step-Stan were arguing again, Stan told her she could spend the rest of the weekend with Danno. As they set off in the car, Grace raised the issue she had been wanting to discuss.

"Can I see Uncle Steve again?"

"Still an uncle is he?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded, her eyes focussed on her dad.

"Well, as I have to head into the office for a bit, I suppose you can come up. I think he will still be there."

"Goodie." She smiled.

Not long later she was jumping out the car and running around to hold her dad's hand; he didn't like her to wander off when they were in new places. They passed a big brown and yellow statue and then they went into the building, up the stairs and through the doors.

"This, monkey, is where I work... well, some of the time. Steve!"

Uncle Steve turned around and grinned at the two of them.

"Hey Danno, Gracie." They headed over and Grace held out her arms, wanting her new uncle to pick her up. He stared at her, looking quite confused.

"Pick her up, you goof." Muttered Danno as he wandered through. Uncle Steve picked her up and she laughed. She was even taller than Danno now.

"What are we watching?" Asked Uncle Steve as they headed into one of the offices. Kono turned around to look at them, giving Grace a smile.

"You getting your... butt handed to you in the state championship. Ooh..."

"Kukui put all the old games online." Uncle Chin said.

"You just got sacked, boss! Should've passed."

"Why pass when you can run. Right, Grace?" She grinned as she cuddled into him.

As Danno's friends chattered away, Uncle Steve sat them both down on the edge of the desk. Danno smiled at her from over Uncle Steve's shoulder. She reached out with one hand to pull her dad close. He came, even though he knocked his head into the back of Uncle Steve's.

"I'm glad I got to see you and your friends again, Danno."

"Me too, Monkey."

"We're your friends too, Grace." Muttered Uncle Steve and Grace tightened her grip around his neck happily.

"Your dad couldn't stop screaming." Uncle Chin told Steve.

"You were there, with my dad?" He looked a little confused by this idea. Grace guessed his dad mustn't have been like Danno, who would never dream of missing something she was in.

"Yeah, I was fresh out of the academy and he was my training officer. I'll tell you, any day that Steve McGarrett was starting at quarterback was an official day off." Maybe Steve's dad did turn up to things, but he never told him.

"I just got one question." Said Danno. "What's a quarterback doing with the number fifty?"

"No. It's five oh." Replied Uncle Steve.

"Yeah."

"No. It's no- It's not fifty. It's five oh. It's what my dad used to call our family because we weren't native Hawaiians; so he nicknames us five-ohs, after the fiftieth state in the union. I dunno, it was his way of making us feel... like we belonged some place, I guess."

"You do belong here." Gracie told him, a frown on her face to make him realise she was serious.

"I like that." Said Kono softly. "Five-0."

They settled back to watching the game, Grace snuggled against Steve.

* * *

Grace soon found out that the main element in Hawaii was not death, like in was in Jersey, but water.

At school, Katie and Tommy both had a very strong connection to the water. Katie could actually breathe underwater. It was really cool. Tommy could change the temperature of water. He could make ice out of a glass of water.

She told them that she could see people's family lines, but she didn't say that she could see dead people; Danno had warned her it might scare people.

"We have fire as well."

"Huh?" She looked over at Katie, who was lying down on the grass next to her.

"Water isn't the only element around here. We have fire as well."

"What does that do?"

"Mainly just set people on fire. My Grandma said she knew someone who could actually turn themselves into fire though."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Some people can turn themselves into water, too."

"Wow... I don't think anyone can turn themselves into Death."

"That would be weird."

"Yeah."

Grace sighed and pulled her felt-tip pens out of her bag. She was going to make Uncle Steve a picture today.

"Did you get it?" She asked Katie, who nodded her head. Her friend pulled out a book about marine animals.

"Pinnipeds... Often called seals." Gracie read. She grinned and began to copy the picture. Next to it she drew Danno, making full use of her eraser to have them cuddle, putting a flipper around Danno and an arm around Steve.

It took all of the break time to get the outline just right but she was happy with it when the bell rang. Carefully putting her sheet of paper into the book so t wouldn't crease, she jumped up. She could add a picture of herself in later.

* * *

"_Hey, monkey. How you doing_?" Asked Danno when she took the phone off her mom.

"I'm good. I've drawn a picture for Uncle Steve, so when you come get me for school on Thursday, can you bring him?"

"_You drew a picture for him? Wow. Lucky guy. If he is free then, he is definitely going to come along. He needs pictures to put on his fridge; it's really boring right now_."

"It is?"

"_Yeah_."

"I'll help!"

"_I bet you will._" She could hear the smile in his voice now.

"Did you have a good day, Danno?"

"_Did I have a good day? Let me tell you, my day was good. We caught the bad guy before he could steal the money and we put him in jail._"

"Did he hurt anyone?"

"_He hurt two people, two tourists who were visiting but they'll be okay._"

"Cos you were there."

"_Yeah_."

"And Uncle Steve."

"_He's not always a help_."

She giggled and chattered away to her dad, planning what they would do next weekend. She even asked him to ask Uncle Steve if they could have a sleepover at his house. She hoped Uncle Steve would say yes.


	3. Danny Williams

"Danno, I want waffles."

"Whu?" Danny Williams pulled his face out of the pillow it had been planted into and squinted up at his daughter.

"Waffles, please." She stared hopefully down at him.

"I got-" he croaked, then cleared his voice. "I got nothing to make 'em with, monkey."

"Can we go shopping?" He winced and put his face back down. Shopping wasn't going to happen; he didn't have a dime to spare. There were fruit loops in the cupboard, or there was bread for toasting; there wasn't much else.

"How about fruit loops?"

"But, I always have fruit loops here."

"I don't have anything else in, monkey."

"We can get waffles from a diner?"

"I don't have any money right now, Grace." He sighed. He really was a terrible father; he couldn't even offer his girl any variation.

"I have allowance money. I've been saving it up."

"You... if you want waffles, then I guess you can have some." She whooped and hurried off to get dressed. Danny dragged himself up at a slower pace. His child had to buy her own breakfast. He wasn't sure how much allowance money she got off Rachel and Stan, but he never gave her anything...

The diner she picked was a nice little one, out the way of the tourist spots. Thankfully, they were not taken for tourists when they sat down; the girl saw his badge and automatically called him officer, then detective once he corrected her.

Grace happily ate her waffles, caked as they were in maple syrup and yogurt. Danny drank a cup of coffee; he wasn't going to let Grace spend her money on him. The waitress grinned and gave him some biscuits that had gone out of date the day before; she had been happily munching on them while watching him with his drink.

"She is staring at you, Danno."

"What?"

"The lady. She is watching you."

"She has to make sure we're okay. It's her job."

"She is staring at you like mom stares at Step-Stan. Maybe you should date her."

Danny choked slightly, gaping at his girl. "Date? She is a little too young for me, babe."

"Oh... You should date Uncle Steve then. I like him."

"I don't really want to date anyone right now, monkey."

She frowned at him and was about to answer when his phone rang. It was Steve.

"Hello?"

"_Governor has called us in. We're gonna start by seeing the M.E. I'll meet you there_."

And he hung up before Danny could say anything. He scowled at his phone then looked up. Grace's face fell when she looked at him.

"You have to work?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, monkey. I'll drop you off at your mom's."

"Can I still stay over tonight? Will you come pick me up later?"

"We'll see. If I finish early enough, but I might not."

"Oh..."

"We still have a few minutes. You can finish your breakfast."

"Not hungry..." She pushed them around the plate. Danny sighed and stood up.

"Let's go."

* * *

He met up with Steve outside, but there was something different about the man. He could quite place it, though he did try think it through out loud; hair? No. Clothes? No...

Steve was smiling; an honest and open smile. It looked really good on him. He bantered with him about it, but his own feelings came though; he had a bad knee, one less weekend with his daughter and another day of work.

Danny hated morgues. He hated them. He was capable of manipulating dead flesh, he could move dead bodies; he had even discovered twice and to his utter horror, that he could push himself far enough actually see through the dead person eyes, or experience their other senses, so long as the necessary part had not been destroyed. He could only move the body if the brain was gone, no senses viable without it.

The problem was that he could sense the dead bodies nearby, as though they were calling him to use them. He hated it, and he never did it unless it was vital, not only because it was macabre but because it left him completely exhausted.

The governor met them there, her face solemn as she strode inside. The first thing she did was tell them they were covering a job that ought to be for HPD, and then she introduced them to Dr. Max Bergman.

She called him a genius and that may be, but Danny found him a little odd, changing from playing the piano to working in one breath.

The girl had drowned, but she also had restraint marks and defensive wounds. It was then that Max introduced himself... it was slightly awkward, but Danny could tell he already liked the other man.

Afterwards, they set off to see the Reeves parents; to talk to them about the death of Amanda and see what they could learn to try and find Robin. It was strange though, it was a high profile case and there was no ransom demand.

They chatted little longer, before heading out to their headquarters to begin investigating. Ambassador Reeves' staff seemed clean, but Chin pointed out that there was a new guy there who might have had something to do with the daughters' problems.

Kono explained that he hadn't even arrived in Hawaii when the girls were abducted. Danny sighed as Steve answered his phone. He hated cases where a daughter was involved; he always seemed to compare what the girl or girls were like to what his Grace may be like in a few years.

A moment later and he was heading out with Steve again.

* * *

"I just got back the toxicology report. The victim had a benzodiazepine in her blood. You may be more familiar with its street name; roofies."

"Yeah. That's a date rape drug." Danny looked up at Steve, who was rubbing his head as he thought.

"Yeah. It's not that often a girl gets roofied at the movies." Steve huffed as he squinted at Max. "You could have told us this on the phone."

"I don't trust phones." Said Max simply. Danny shared a look with Steve, before he tried to get himself going. He did not like morgues and he couldn't wait to leave this one.

"Okay. Kono said that the daughters had a reputation for being um... party girls." He glanced again at Steve before turning back to Max. "Do you have a black light?"

Max stared at him for a long moment. "Oh, it's called an ALS Wand... and I don't like people touching my equipment."

"Can I just have the wand, please?" See,_ please_, he had even asked nicely.

"Fine."

Max got the wand, but he didn't actually let Danny use it. Regardless, when Max hovered it over Amanda's hand, it showed a stamp. Steve grinned at him, looking oddly proud. Danny wasn't sure how to feel about that: pleased that Steve was proud? It did make him want to preen like a cat; or insulted that Steve was so surprised, Danny was a detective after all. They didn't just hand the job out to anyone.

He flinched as they were heading out, sure that he had seen someone nearby. He shook his head and continued on though. Dead people were Grace's thing, sadly. She could see them and talk to them. Occasionally, Danny caught a glimpse of them in his peripheral vision, but he could never focus on them.

Once back in the office, Steve began to dig through the internet to find what he was looking for. Danny tried to praise him, but apparently he was a little too casual in his approach of 'that was good, did you learn it in SEAL school?' because Steve scowled at him.

Then again, a scowl seemed to be Steve's primary facial setting.

The most important thing that came from the conversation was that he had beaten Steve in Ms. Pacman.

They found the girls leaving the club with a creep and then headed out to said club. It was a shame the job was taking so long, but he rang Rachel from the car so he could apologise to Grace. His girl was disappointed, but he told her he would make it up to her.

In the club, he stood with Steve, holding a beer as they checked the place out. There were two very attractive women eyeing up Steve, not that he could blame them, he would enjoy looking at the man if he didn't so frequently raise his blood pressure, but Steve didn't seem to notice them.

Steve just gave Danny a bright smile as he grasped his wrist to check for a pulse... possible holding on for a little too long. Steve was actually kind of adorable with that smile and Danny felt himself grinning in response. At least, he grinned until he worked out the reason for Steve's smile; it was a pretty clear 'just laid' smile, but Danny had been too blind to see it. He tried to keep the smile on his face, but for some reason it just felt forced.

It was a relief when they saw the creep drop a pill into a girl's drink and they headed over, the conversation hopefully forgotten about. Danny happily insisted the creep drink the drugged drink, and Steve helped him to get it all down.

If some sick fucker came near his daughter like that, tried to drug her up... Danny was pleased to see Steve pull the creep out by his hair.

Questioning him was actually very easy... disappointingly so. For all that he wanted to get Robin Reeves back quickly; he would have liked to see the creep go through a McGarrett style interrogation.

Kang. This was apparently another sick creep who paid their creep to bring him girls. They quickly realised they would have to give this Kang a girl to get to him. Kono valiantly agreed to do it. Danny felt sick just thinking about it.

Steve was driving, as was his wont, apparently; they were following the van when Mary called.

"Now's not the best time Mary... What?" As his sister spoke, though Danny could hear the words he could see his friend's face; it was pained. "Put the box back, okay? It's evidence... Something Dad was investigating. A case he was working on and he wanted me to find it."

Danny yawned as he shifted in his seat. Sitting in a car did not keep his adrenaline going.

"Mary, plea- do me a favour and just put the box back for now, okay?" He hid it well, but Steve was starting to get upset. "Tell me you're putting the box back."

Danny could hear her snap something back at her brother.

"Thank you." He bit out, his eyes wide, before hanging up.

"Everything okay?" Asked Chin carefully.

"Probably not." Steve snapped in the same short voice.

They pulled up outside an old building before it could get heated, and Danny frowned as he looked around. Kono was taken inside. They geared up, backup already with them and they waited.

It barely took anytime at all to hear enough, and they moved in.

"Five-0!" Shouted Steve, using the newly acquired name the task force had. "Show me your hands."

Danny watched them move in, not actually joining in because of his bum knee. It only took a moment for him to be thankful, because there were dead people, or ghosts, or whatever drifting out as the raid caused a ruckus. Danny put his head in his hands a curled up in the front seat; he did not know how his little girl was still sane after seeing people with horrific injuries every day.

He must have dozed off though, because one minute he was waiting for the raid to hurry up, the next Steve was shaking him awake, outside of HQ.

Things quickly came together and they worked out that the ambassador had received ransom calls; he had just lied about it. They realised the new member of staff, Ellison, was likely a K and R specialist, not a security consultant, like he had claimed.

As the new dawn broke, Danny and Steve headed out to the Reeves house. Sarah Reeves was there with the governor, who insisted she tell the task force everything. Her husband and Ellison had set out to pay the ransom.

"I just want my daughter back." She sobbed, and Danny forcefully kept his mind off Grace.

Chin and Kono called to talk to Steve and then Danny and Steve were in the car again, with Steve driving, as they followed the tracking on the ambassador's car.

A phone call to Catherine, where he agreed to take her to dinner and then got use of a naval satellite. He tried not to feel inferior to her; there was no reason to, he was not in any kind of competition with her. He could not explain why he felt some relief that Steve was so comfortable with him that he would fish his car keys out of Danny's trousers.

Once their team took over the retrieval, the whole thing went rather smoothly, and Danny just grinned when Steve came out with 'Book him, Danno' after handcuffing Ellison.

As they drove back to Steve's, the man offered to put Danny up for the night, to cook him some steak and relax with him, but Danny had plans to crawl into his bed and not move for a long time, so he declined, dropped Steve off and drove himself home.

* * *

It was only a week later when their next big case came in. The victim was Ian Adams and he had been a good friend to Kono. It hurt Danny to see his friend in pain.

When they had first turned up, Danny had been confused at the number of people there was, but Steve simply explained the Coral Prince Championship as Hawaii's Super Bowl. He looked around at all the people in skimpy bathing suits. It was odd that coming to Hawaii had changed his opinion of bathing suits; it had become reinforced since he had partnered Steve.

He just did not want to see people in such a small amount of clothing. It made him cringe when he noticed girls in their early teens walking around waterproof underwear. Grace would get ideas...

His attention quickly returned to the case though, focussing when Steve pointed out how good an aim someone had to be to hit someone surfing fifty yards out.

When Kono came over to tell them what she was going to do, to get statements and do some work, her voice croaked badly. Danny wished he could give her a hug, but he decided to help by thinking about the case.

"I hate it when rich people get killed." He grumbled.

"Why?" asked Steve.

"They got something that everyone wants."

"Yeah, money." Agreed the taller man.

"Which means plenty of suspects." Chin helpfully commented.

After a confusing exchange with a surfer, which Steve rescued him from and a fruitless conversation with Carlton Bass, a friend of the victim, they headed back to the headquarters.

Kono turned up, pain written all over her face. Chin convinced her to head home instead of working and Danny managed to give her a slight smile.

Chin and Steve headed out on bikes, but Danny hung around in the offices instead. He found Kono sitting and staring at the St. Michael chain he had given her blankly, and wandered in.

He had meant to say something comforting, but ended up talking about Steve instead; it got a chuckle out of her though.

He reminded her that she was not to blame, but she simply mentioned that she had felt helpless. He knew what she meant. She told him how Ian had helped her turn her life around, how he had made her a better person.

It was when she stood up to give him a hug that she surprised him.

"You're one of us, aren't you?"

"Huh?"

"A Kahu-na? A keeper of the balance."

"You have an element." He replied, realising what she was talking about.

"Yeah. Water."

"Chin does call you a water woman."

"I can become water. It made surfing difficult for me, because I don't become salt water, so I had trouble finding myself when I went out into the ocean. Ian helped me keep who I am in place. He helped me find my centre."

"My element is death. I can see people's family lines and I can manipulate dead flesh. It's not really a useful ability."

"Oh. Is it true that life is part of the death element?"

"Yeah. I can actually heal things"

"That is so cool." She sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Yeah, you'd think so. I once fix a cut on Matty's hand. Matty is my brother. We had been out on our bikes when we weren't meant to be and he fell off. I fixed the cut, but I passed out. I was in a coma for three days just from fixing a cut."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. My mom was so worried that I was worried she might actually kill me for it. Never tried it again."

"It feels natural to use my element now. I can't imagine not."

"I'd love to use mine properly, but the only useful bit of it actually has terrible repercussions for me."

She grinned weakly at him, tightening her arms around him before heading out. He went and sat down at his desk to have a think.

* * *

When Steve and Chin got back, they got their first suspect; or rather, they got their first suspects. The Kapu: described as part lifeguard, part unofficial security force. Danny got to enjoy one of those awkward silences when he realised the kapu protected the island from haoles. It was flattering really.

Amongst the wonderful group, they found two men to go and speak to.

Instead of going straight to their men, Levi Parker and Diego Stone, they headed into the Hawaiian Hilton Village. Danny ranted in irritation at the detour again, still not understanding why they had to stop at a bar first. If Steve wanted to ask him out, he'd have to do it in their spare time and with assurances he wasn't still pulling Catherine along too; Danny wasn't into casual at all.

"Danny." Interrupted Steve, thankfully stopping him before he started talking about dating. "On this island, there's an easy way to do things and a hard way. With the Kapu, talking to Kawika before we go after Levi and Diego... is the easy way." He couldn't get much more patronising. Danny had to work not to grin.

"Ah, so, what's, uh, throwing somebody in a shark tank and then hanging another guy off a roof?"

"Well, those guys were from out of town." Replied Steve, with an innocent little half shrug.

"You're a sick person, you know that?"

"In the best possible way, though, right?" Steve grinned happily, and Danny rolled his eyes.

"No, no. Not in the best possible way; in a very terrible way. It's not a compliment, you understand?" It was sad that he needed to point this out, but he had to admit he was enjoying himself.

Once inside, they spoke with Kawika. Danny made the mistake on commenting on his Blue Hawaii drink and Steve was quick to order them both one. The conversation quickly edged towards insulting Danny, but Steve butted in and Danny felt oddly as though he was being defended.

They got their drinks and Danny got stuck with the tab. However, after Kawika left, he and Steve sat and drank together in silence. It was pleasant, especially as he could feel the solid warmth of his friend so close. When they finished, Steve tried to convince him to get rid of his tie by dragging him back to the car with it.

The only problem was it dyed his tongue blue, and as he was happily ranting at Steve when they got Levi and Diego delivered. Unfortunately, they had an alibi and he and Steve lost their suspects.

* * *

He and Steve stopped for dinner, enjoying some time together. He got Steve to cover the bill and about an hour after they got back in that Kono turned up. A moment after that, they had another suspect: Ben Bass.

The next day, Chin found that Ian Adams had changed his will to make Ben Bass his beneficiary when he died. Kono had called over to his apartment when they had headed back home last night. He had let her talk, let his friend get everything off her chest and then he had held her close. She headed out before Danny had managed to say anything.

A few hours after Chin made his call, they found that the camps Ben was living in had been attacked by Levi and Diego. Instead of readily talking to them, the men led him and Steve on a lovely car chase. Danny discovered they had no respect of the law, but they called Kawika out to get the answers they wanted.

Randall Barrett was the guy who chauffeured Carlton Bass; he had paid them to burn the tent village down. Apparently, they had met him at the rifle range and he had been wanting somewhere with a clear shot of pipeline. With another suspect lined up, they headed out.

Randall was not difficult to catch and they found a rifle in the boot of his car. He pointed them elsewhere though, to his boss.

They arrested Carlton Bass for the contract murder of Ian Adams.

Steve tried explaining that 'Book him, Danno' was a term of endearment; Danny rather well believed him. He grinned all the way home, agreeing to a beer with Steve and to relax quietly on his lanai. Once he was settled and unwinding in the gentle evening air, he even found himself agreeing to bring Gracie over at some point, even though Steve saw her fairly often as she liked to have them both take her to school.

He sighed, deciding that life on Hawaii wasn't too bad, even if he couldn't bear to say it out loud.


	4. Steve McGarrett

Steve started the day lying flat out on his back, the warm sun heating his skin as it rose into the morning sky. He had been dreaming of Danny, so he was actually rather thankful when his body woke him up at 5.30 sharp.

It wasn't that Steve had any objections to Danny as a person; he was a wonderful, if loud man with the most amazing daughter ever. The beginnings of Steve's redecoration had begun with Grace's pictures that were stuck to his fridge. The problem was that Steve just could not get the other man out of his head; everything he did made him think of Danny. From grocery shopping where he thought Danny could do with eating better to watching TV where he could imagine Danny loudly complaining about the stupid decisions people made to surfing where he often heard Danny complaining about the many dangers of it and why his daughter was not allowed on a surf board.

He even went to sleep at night thinking f Danny's light blue eyes and the different expressions they showed.

He crawled out of bed, pulling on some swimming gear and heading outside; he needed to clear his head and the repetitive motion of swimming was very good at that.

At half seven, while he was silently eating some breakfast, the governor called. They had a case, so he called Danny and told the man to pick him up on his way in. Steve did love driving the camaro, and when he drove it left Danny with his hands free to talk all he wanted; Steve was just being a good friend by driving, really.

When they arrived at the U.S.S Missouri, they were met by the governor's new public safety liaison, Laura Hills. The case was actually one that got to Steve, it involved a SEAL. Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Graham Wilson of SEAL Team 5, to be precise. The man had taken a number of hostages after his wife had been killed. He was adamant that he hadn't killed her.

As they moved towards the ship, Steve realised he had dropped behind Danny and was staring lower than he ought to. He focussed on the case instead. Danny's sarcasm was ignored by the woman as she focussed on the SEAL before them. Danny clearly felt some kind of jab, asking if he was there for just entertainment, but Steve wanted to get a move on and didn't have time to play to Danny's insecurities; if necessary, they could be dealt with later.

He decided the best way to do this would be to go in alone.

"Ohh... Kay. That's just stupid." Interrupted Danny, when he told them so.

"Graham's a SEAL. He's been trained in close-quarter combat." Steve focussed his attention on Danny. If his partner wasn't on board with this then he would have problems. Laura Hills objecting made no difference to him at all. "Which means that right now, he has the high ground. You send SWAT in there blind; they're gonna take heavy losses and more than likely get multiple hostages killed."

He took a deep breath, turning to look properly at Danny. "If this guy didn't kill his wife, he deserves at least a conversation before we go in guns blazing. If he did, and he's gonna kill again, I'll take him out myself; but if you want my help, you get it my way. I'm going alone." His eyes drifted back to Laura Hills for that; Danny had his help all the time, whether he wanted it or not.

He turned his back and headed towards the car, hoping to stop Danny's tirade before it started.

"Okay." Started his friend as soon as they reached the car. "Let's say I am you and you are the bad guy here, okay? I would know that all the ways onto the ship are visible somehow. So, how would you outsmart yourself and get yourself onto that ship without yourself seeing yourself?"

Steve fought an automatic laugh; he was sure that made no sense.

"Okay," he responded, "was that an actual attempt at a question, or are you just kinda throwing words at each other and hoping they make sense?"

"How will you get on the ship without Graham seeing you? That's all."

"Graham is expecting a threat from land, not from the water." He answered, now that he knew what the question was. "I'm just gonna go for a swim."

"You're gonna go for a swim? You're serious?" He chuckled as Steve stripped off his shirt, stuffing it in his bag. "Now you're shirtless, that's great." It was a little disappointing how unimpressed Danny sounded.

"Believe it or not, I've done this before." Entering a ship from the water wasn't actually that hard.

"You've done this before?" The smaller man's voice was coloured with disbelief. "You- you've snuck onto a floating museum to rescue a bunch of tourists who are being held captive by a man who is accused of killing his wife?"

"Well, I didn't mean this literally, but ... Look, I can't see any other way of stopping this thing from escalating and we only have four hours."

"I believe it. All right, what's your plan?"

"We'll hold SWAT in position so Graham thinks we're still negotiating. In the mean time, I'll board, try to make contact while you investigate this murder. I can gain his trust, get him to see that we're working on his behalf so, maybe, I can get these people out safe, Graham included; but only if he feels like I actually understand him."

"Okay. That's great." Steve sighed slightly, his eyes going to Danny's hands. "What happens when I investigate and I find out he killed his wife, which he most certainly did? Then what?"

"Least we'll know what we're dealing with."

"Hey." Chin walked over, interrupting the two. "HPD says the neighbours reported hearing screams coming from Graham's house. Cops arrived and found him with a knife in his hand. When they tried to arrest him, he fled the scene."

"They also found his seven year old daughter in the house hiding under the couch." Added Kono, her beautiful face pulled into a frown. "She hasn't talked since Child Welfare Services took her into custody."

"Maybe she saw something that freaked her out." Danny's voice held an odd tone.

"I'll go see the kid, see if she knows anything." Kono had anticipated his move. "Because, I'm the woman on the team. You'd probably ask me to do it anyway."

"No, no." Objected Danny. "It's not because you are a woman. It's because you're a rookie, which is way worse."

He had a point; and Steve wouldn't have sent Danny to talk to a traumatised seven year old girl unless he had to, just in case it reminded him of his own beautiful eight year old daughter.

"Listen, I'm gonna have my phone on me but don't call me. I'll call you, okay?"

"Bet you used that line before." Smirked Kono as she turned away.

"I'll initiate contact once I'm in a secure location." He told his two remaining team members.

"That one too." Grinned Chin.

"Good luck, Aquaman." Called Danny and Steve gave them a wave.

He stuffed his boots into his air tight, or water tight in this case, bag and pulled on his goggles, driving into the cool water.

Once on board, he redressed and pulled out a map of the ship; he set off through the ship, gun leading the way as he crept along. The only person he encountered though was the Ed McKay; Boatswain's Mate, 1st Class. Retired.

McKay ran tours; he had gotten most of his group out when the chaos had started, but the ones who had been left behind had been taken hostage. Seven... There were seven hostages.

The old man refused to hide away though, his fierce determination seriously impressed Steve and he was sure he knew the ship better than the map. How could he argue? He got a promise that the man would obey his orders and keep out of sight first though.

McKay got the story out of him as they moved along, his mind clearly working just as fast as any younger man's. They heard Graham telling a woman to shut up' the first thing Steve noticed was the way his voice wavered slightly.

He listened as the woman spoke up again, asking for help with her hypoglycaemia. Graham allowed it. Steve heard another man pass over peanuts, telling her they had protein. Steve hoped they were coated in something, because she needed glucose to correct hypoglycaemia, not protein.

What he needed to do now though, was call his team and see how things were going their end. The two men crept back, hiding out of sight, just around the corner as Steve pulled out his phone.

"_Hey, you with Graham yet_?" Danny answered straight away.

"Yeah. I got him. I got eyes on him." He whispered. "He's armed and he's holding seven hostages. Behaviour's pretty erratic."

"_You mean, as opposed to most hostage-takers that are calm and composed_?" Steve grinned. Talking to Danny always grounded him.

"No. With his training, this scenario shouldn't bother him, but he seems paranoid. He's unstable. You know what? Check if he's being treated psychiatrically."

"_Okay. I'm in the house right now. Chin? Go see if this guy is on any meds. Hey, uh, while I got you, we found something. It's a manuscript stashed away. It's in Russian; and a, uh, a safe- deposit key. So, if it's local, I can subpoena the contents._"

"Good. It sounds like you're making progress."

"_Yeah. You, uh, you miss me, don't you_?"

"Oh yeah. I wish you were here, but you don't swim, do you?" He couldn't resist ribbing him a little.

"_I don't swim? I swim... very well, actually. I just chose not to_."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"You talking to your wife?" hissed McKay behind him, making Steve realise how this conversation must sound.

"I'm talking to my partner." He replied. Before he could get anything else out, he heard Chin real off a list of medicines that Graham had in the bathroom, including clonazepam, which is an antipsychotic. Doctors sometimes prescribed it to help with PTSD... The bottles were apparently nearly full.

Graham didn't seem to be taking his medicine.

Graham heard them though, so Steve sent McKay back to his office as he quickly dressed himself as a tourist, cramming McKay's hat on his head and grabbing a wristband. Giving McKay his bag and weapon, Steve went to join the hostages.

The hypoglycaemic woman had not improved with the intake of protein. Steve's mind was speeding through the different options he had; they were sadly few. Things changed when the big guy next to Steve decided to do something; he jumped up and rushed Graham, taking a strike to the head for his efforts. Graham dropped his switchblade in the struggle though, and Steve was quick to pocket it.

Steve jumped up to intervene, hands up to defend himself. Graham saw straight through his tourist act. With a gun pointing at his face, Steve could only think of how angry Danny would be if he got shot.

He quickly explained that he was a SEAL, same as Graham. It was best to get some connection between them, to try earn some trust. He assured the man he wanted to help.

He did what he had learnt from Danny, he talked. He let his mouth run, the way Danny's did when he was leading a questioning. Talking so the guy couldn't spend his time thinking about anything else; Steve talked to reinforce the idea that he was helping, that he believed Graham didn't kill his wife and his team were trying to find the killer. He reminded the man of his daughter; he knew how Danny got when he had Grace to think about, maybe Graham would stop for a moment if he considered his little girl.

Graham did eventually allow him something, and Steve took the chance to fix the big guy up. His head was bleeding quite a bit, so the man used some nail glue to close it up. He chatted about his experiences, reminiscing about life on base before bringing up Noreen, Graham's wife.

He got to the crux of the matter though. Graham and Noreen had argued, so he had gone out for a walk, to clear his head. He had left the house and found his wife lying there. He had tried to save her, but the cops had turned up and Graham had run.

Graham allowed the injured man to leave, but he decided to move the rest of the hostages and lock Steve out of the way.

As soon as he was out the way, Steve phoned Danny.

"_You're in a bathroom? I could have gotten locked in a bathroom_." His friend didn't sound too impressed.

"It's a long story."

"_Okay, I'm calling SWAT_."

"No." Snapped Steve. "You won't call SWAT. I'll find a way out of here. Just tell me, what have you got?"

"_Okay_." Sighed Danny. "_Graham's psychiatrist said that he's been experiencing blackouts, which means that he may have killed his wife without even realising it._"

"No, that doesn't make sense."

"_How does that not make sense? How does that not make sense to you? I mean, the guy fled the crime scene with the murder weapon in his hand. I mean, I am no detective- Wait a minute, where am I? Oh, I'm a detective. He is still our prime suspect!_"

"Graham identified me as a threat and didn't do anything." Nothing violent, at any rate. "He could have killed me, but he didn't."

"_All right, listen. I know this guy is a SEAL, all right? And brother in arms, the whole thing, I get that. But that does not mean he didn't kill his wife._"

"You're right. You're right." Steve had to agree; it was possible he was biased. "Buy, I promised him that we'd investigate this murder."

"_What do you think I am doing? I am investigating. Unfortunately, he is our only suspect. In my experience, when you only have one suspect, he's usually the one you put in jail. Okay, you want me to broaden the search, fine, but you're gonna have to give me something else._"

"As a matter of fact," Steve said once his partner had stopped for a moment. "I actually may have a new lead. Graham said that Noreen was a Russian citizen. They moved here six years ago.

"_That would explain why she has no record prior to '04_."

He told Danny that she had been called Irina, told him to dig deeper and found out Danny had contacted Catherine, which gave him an uneasy feeling that he didn't have time to try figure out.

A bang on the door made Danny panic loudly, but Steve hung up. It was just McKay, who had come to free him. The man grinned at him and they left. Steve pulled a finger print off the knife, taking a picture by using some powder and sent it to Danny.

They set off again. McKay knew his grandfather from the Arizona, had been running a message across the harbour when the ship had gone down.

"The man that you are named after was a real hero. You should be very proud."

"I am proud."

Another phone conversation with Danny cleared up Graham's guilt; Lily had been taken but the finger prints on the knife weren't Graham's, but HPD didn't know who they belonged to. They were expanding the search. Danny warned him not to tell Graham about Lily though, and Steve had to accept that Danny probably knew better than he did in regard to having a daughter in danger.

He hung up before McKay could accuse him of talking to his wife again; he'd joked about it while they were walking about.

He went to talk to Graham, but the man started shooting, hopefully just windows. With McKay's help, they got the hostages out, but he got caught himself. Danny called, and Graham told him to put him on speaker.

It turned out Lily's father was the one who had taken the child and killed Noreen, but Graham was sure Lily's father had been dead. He refused to believe Five-0 over his wife. Graham started to wonder about everything else, not able to believe their verdict. SWAT came in, distracting them.

Steve stopped them shooting him, taking his weapon.

As Graham was reunited with his little girl, Steve headed over to Danny; he grinned as he watched the tense lines melt out of the smaller man.

"Dinner?" He asked, casually.

"Sure. Out or do you have food in?"

"I got a couple of steaks."

* * *

Once they were at the house and waiting for their dinner to cook, Steve pulled Danny into his arms. It was probably McKay's fault, but all that talk of wives and daughters had left him uncomfortable. Danny slapped his back a few times, trying to pull away but Steve hung on.

He knew it was not normal to cling to a friend like this, but Danny likely attributed some emotional problem to it because he just pressed his forehead into Steve's neck, hands resting on Steve's hips.

Steve kept holding on, even when he realised that this was actually what he wanted. He liked having Danny this close; he'd like to keep Danny this close. It made him want to run off and hide, but he pressed his cheek to the top of his friend's head and rubbed his hands over Danny's strong back.

* * *

Eleven days later, Steve received a call off Danny. He wanted help looking into the death of his old partner; Meka Hanamoa. He had sounded upset and Steve had agreed straight away.

Meka had been found in an imu pit with his badge in his mouth. COD was two shots to the chest. Danny looked upset when they discussed it. He kept sighing and Steve could recognise the struggle to keep himself going.

"Somebody actually had to dig up a pig and replace it with Meka's body. Nobody saw anything? I find that very hard to believe." Danny kept taking deep breaths. Steve longed to help him, to hold him.

Steve sent Chin and Kono to talk to Meka's wife, Amy; Danny supplied the name and told them the son was called Billy. They were to check if he had any case work at the house.

Steve would take Danny and they could check out HPD. Cage was the man leading the case, but Chin was confused by that; Cage was Internal Affairs, not Homicide.

The ride in the car was tense. Danny didn't talk. He sat with his head in his hands, his mouth shut. When they pulled up to the driving range where Cage was spending his lunch, Steve pulled the other man into his arms. It helped to a certain extent; Danny was capable of ranting at Cage.

It didn't help when Cage accused Meka of corruption.

Danny pulled Steve close when they got back to the car, pressing his face into the taller man's neck, hissing out his anger.

The ride to HPD was silent, but his friend was more relaxed. Every single cop at HPD was keeping their mouth shut. A gag order was in effect, but Kaleo passed them a note; he would talk to them, just not at HPD.

Steve let Danny drive them back, having had all he could take of the uncomfortable silence; anything to get his friend back to normal. Chin called to tell them Meka had booked a flight out to Singapore that his wife had had no idea about. It made Steve wonder...

Kaleo pointed them in the direction of Ochoa.

Danny locked onto it, deciding that it made sense why Meka was focussed. Steve focussed on something else. There was a leak in the HPD; Meka had been heading out to Singapore. At least the comment got Danny shouting. He felt better once the block in Danny had been freed.

Back at HQ, they found that similar hits where cops had been found dead with their badges in their mouth had originated with Ochoa. They went to see Kamekona, who was reluctant to share any information in case they got hurt.

They followed his lead, getting dressed up to go see a modern art gallery. While Steve could honestly admit he had no interest in the red line on a white canvas and what it represented, he did enjoy seeing Danny with his shirt unbuttoned at the top.

It felt daring, almost racy to see that bit of revealed flesh that ties usually hid away.

They got into the back with help of Kono's pickpocketting skills and Steve volunteered to take out the ugly guard if things went south. Danny chuckled and decided they were both ugly, which was true, so he could get them both.

Bastille was a sleazy guy try to sell 'art'. Danny found an alternate way to get the information he wanted. They took Bastille for a drive. He really wasn't an attractive front piece for their car, but Steve enjoyed the conversation he and Danny had, it was actually quite calm, no raised voices or anything.

They found Bastille was meeting Ochoa the next day at the old coffee plantation. Bastille informed them that Ochoa had a mole in HPD and that was how he could get his cocaine on the island. Steve looked over at Danny, wondering how Danny would cope when he realised Meka was the leak...

Back at HQ, they found Meka had been looking into wire transfers that went to an account in Singapore. Meka had to have been running. He had found out he was going to be made and was going to withdraw his money and hide.

Danny disagreed. He didn't think Meka was a dirty cop, he didn't believe Meka would leave Amy and Billy. He thought his friend would be going to try and get the identity of the account holder.

Danny believed this so strongly that he turned around and left the office when Steve refused to go along with it.

"Well done, boss." Said Kono, raising an eyebrow at him.

"He's going to be so hurt when we clear this up." Steve muttered.

"You can't believe everything IA says. I'll go talk to him." Chin stormed out pretty quickly.

"Say nothing." Steve snapped at Kono, before turning around and heading to his office.

"You two need to kiss and make up." She said anyway; Steve had a feeling she wasn't referring to Chin.

* * *

Steve slept badly that night. All he could think about was the hurt look Danny had given him before leaving...

He got up early the next day, going for a run instead of a swim to see if pounding the pavement would clear his head. It didn't. He went to HQ and looked up the GPS on Danny's car. He grinned when he realised the man had listened to him and had gone to speak to Sang Min.

He got an officer to drop him off and waited by the car. Danny won him over with a simple question:

If IA had a stack of evidence that said Danny had been skimming off a drug book, would Steve believe them?

Why not?

That was all he needed.

* * *

They got geared up to take Ochoa down and Steve got to see Danny's bare chest. He could have looked for a long time, but the man pulled a black t-shirt on before strapping his vest on, then buttoning up his shirt; no tie.

Cage came in, having heard rumours that they were going to get Ochoa. He wanted in and started shouting at Danny when he wouldn't share. Steve put a stop to that.

Bastille had been a bastard to drive with, his cowardly whinging piercing the air, and when they got there, the thing did not go smoothly. It quickly descended into a fire fight, and Kaleo had killed Ochoa.

Danny was miserable. Steve gave him a brief hug when they headed back, but the man shrugged him off and didn't speak. Back at the office, Danny went straight off to phone HPD and see what he could sort before calling Amy.

Steve headed into his office, sitting on the edge on Danny's desk, but Kono and Chin brought better help than just saying they would keep looking; the coroner's report was back. Ochoa had been executed, close range. It hadn't been self-defence.

As they realised what must have happened, Danny gained some life. He jumped to his feet, asking Chin and Kono to go and speak to Sang Min; he said to agree to let him speak to his wife and son; that Danny himself would take care of it, and as they left Danny and Steve called the authorities in Singapore, determined to get the identity of the account holder. The death of an officer in regards to this case helped. They got the information they needed.

Kaleo was bragging, but Danny pointed out that he was the mole, that they had the evidence and then Sang Min backed them up. Danny's emotions finally won over and the smaller man attacked angrily.

Steve got him to stop, with a word and Danny left, taking Sang Min with him.

* * *

The funeral came next. HPD had done the whole ceremony for Meka, and Steve had been there. He may not have known the guy, but he showed up in his dress blues for Danny. Danny had clung to him, crying out his emotions up in the spare room of the Hanamoa house. He had pulled his face away, blotchy and red and just as beautiful as ever.

Steve had pressed a kiss to each cheek and then pressed their foreheads together.

They had sat there for a good ten minutes, before Danny stood up, telling him he needed to keep another promise. Danny left, and Steve offered his condolences to Any Hanamoa before heading home.

It was a little over two hours later that Steve received a call. Danny had taken Sang Min to see if wife and boy, but the man hadn't wanted to talk to them. He had then gone to see Grace, needing a cuddle. It had only been Stan at home, Rachel away for a spa week and the man had told Danny to take the girl with him.

Stan went up, in Steve's opinion, for that.

Danny didn't quite know what to do with his little girl, so he called Steve to see if they could head over, which Steve agreed to before the words were even out. He quickly tidied up around the place, there wasn't much to do, but there were a few books lying on the table rather than in the bookshelf, and he had a mug and a plate that needed washing.

"Uncle Steve!" called Grace as she raced inside.

"Hey Gracie!" replied Steve a grin on his face.

Grace froze in place though, staring at the chair by the table in the study, the colour dropping out of her face. She screamed.

Steve stared in horror at the little girl and she turned and flung herself at her father. Danny dropped straight down, pulling the child close.

"What's wrong, baby? What is it?"

"Th-The man. Sh-Shot..." She sobbed.

"There is no one here, baby. Just me, you and Steve." Danny pulled her into his lap and rocked her gently. Steve stood helplessly to the side, absolutely no idea what was going on.

The only noise was Grace's sobbing, which was settling down, and Danny's soothing words.

"Babe?" Danny addressed him, eyes meeting his. "Can you get a glass of water?"

"Yeah." He hurried out the room, eager to do something. He ran the tap till the water came out cold and filled a glass, taking it back to the study, where father and daughter were wrapped up together.

"Here, monkey." Mumbled Danny, taking the glass. Grace pulled her face out of Danny's shirt, snot trailing from her face to the fabric, but neither of them seemed to care.

"Thank you." She gasped, taking a sip.

"What happened, baby?"

"I saw men."

"Men?"

"Mm hmm. Three. One at the desk, one- one tied to a chair and one behind him on the phone." She glass slipped out of her fingers as her face crumpled. Danny didn't seem to notice his trousers were soaking up the water.

"It's ok, monkey. It's just us here."

"And him." She said, pointing over to the table. There was no one there.

"Who's there?" Danny was squinting, as though he might be able to make someone out in the thin air.

"He says his name is John McGarrett." If Grace hadn't been hysterical a few minutes ago, Steve may have had a go at her. That wasn't funny.

"He is the one who was tied to the chair."

"Was he sitting in the chair? Or was he..." Surely Danny wasn't encouraging this?

"No... Yes... It was different Danno. I usually just see them dead, but I saw him get killed this time. The room didn't look like this, things were sort of different."

"See who dead? Danny?"

"In a minute, Steve. You saw... Babe, that's not how your thing works."

"I know..." She buried her face back into Danny's shoulder for a moment, before looking over at Steve. "Uncle Steve? He says he is here, that the last thing he told you was not to give Victor Hesse what he wanted and that he died after Anton did. He says he loves you and Mary."

Steve sat down heavily, staring at the little girl. How could she know what?

"You ok, baby girl?" whispered Danny.

"I'm sorry, Danno. I made a mess of you."

Steve blankly directed Danny to go get some of his spare clothes to change into before he stumbled through and sat down on the couch. Grace followed him and climbed into his lap.

"I see dead people, Uncle Steve. I've never seen them die before though." Tears started falling again, so he pulled her close.

A few minutes later, Danny joined them. Steve lifted an arm and pulled Danny to his chest and they stayed cuddled together. Dinner could wait.


	5. John McGarrett Again

John McGarrett stared back at the young girl who was watching him. She was cuddled up in his son's lap with her father collapsed against them both; John's whole attention was taken up by the child though.

She could see him.

For the first time since he died, he felt self-conscious about the gunshot wound on his head. It had been a reminder of how he fit in with the world around him, but not that he was faced with someone else, someone with big, innocent eyes, he was aware that it was very much the sort of things people shielded their children's eyes from.

After a few moments, he fled, shame burning through him. He had made the wonderful daughter of Detective Williams scream; she had been terrified. He ran outside and half way down the street before Keala stopped him.

"Aloha." She said, her voice blank as it always was, but her vacant eyes were pulled into a frown.

"A- A child saw me." He gasped.

"One with the death element." Keala said with a nod, but John had no idea to what she was referring.

"Death element?"

"Have you never heard of elements?"

"Like, earth, wind, fire and air?" Wasn't that a song?

"Air and wind are the same thing." She looked curiously at him for a long moment, before seeming to make her mind up about something. "There are, I believe, eight elements."

"Which are?"

"Water, fire, air, earth, body, mind, death and space."

"Oh. Space is an element?"

"Not space as in extraterrestrial, exactly. More... Time and space."

"Oh." He really wasn't sure how to respond to this; if he wasn't dead and still going about with some form of life he would consider her lolo. "You think...?"

"Yeah. There's overlap."

"What does this have to do with the little girl who saw me?"

"She will have the death element in her family line."

"So, she can see death? Cos, her father can't."

"He will have been granted another ability from his element."

"I don't get it."

"Umm..." She frowned again, tugging at her dark hair as she thought. "Water is the common element in Hawaii. This means some people can manipulate water. The can pick it up force it to hold a shape, they can move it from one glass to another. Other people can create water out of nothing, just make it appear. Some people can change the temperature of the water, make it boil away, or freeze it into ice. There are, ever now and then, people who can turn themselves into water, but this is very rare."

"So... different abilities in different elements."

"Yeah. Now, death has a wider range because part of death is life."

"Wouldn't that be the other way around? Part of life is death?"

"I guess you could argue that, but death is accepted as the wider element. In death, people can see family lines. This is, I think, the most common ability for them. They can see dead people; some people can just hear dead people."

"She could see and hear me."

"I mean, some people can hear the remaining echoes left by the dead. We still exist in some form, but those who move on, to Heaven or whatever comes after this, they can leave an echo behind."

"What does come after this?"

"Who would I know? Anyway, others can feel dead people; you know, the type who claim the temperature drops when ghosts are in the room? Then some can manipulate dead flesh."

"Oh, that is pleasant."

"Yeah. A small number of people can just kill people; inflict death, if you like. Then you have people with the life portion of the element. They can make things grow, or blossom. They actually have some control over things like plant life and stuff. You get some who can heal. I've never heard of anyone who can bring someone back to life, but I don't see why it can't happen if the soul is still around, like we are."

"You have thought a lot about this."

"Yeah. I've had time. The most important element for us is actually space."

"It is?" He didn't see how. He settled on the bench next to her, staring up at the darkening sky.

"Time and space is a very rare element for the living, but we have a great deal of influence with it. Surely you noticed we can skip periods of time?"

"Can we go back?"

"Not back to life, but I have seen one man who could drift through time."

"That would be amazing." He could go back and see his children when they were young again. Their childhoods had gone by so quickly.

"Not really. He had little control over it. Then space. We can just choose to be somewhere and we are there."

"All about focus, right?"

"Yeah. But I don't mind the walking. I don't need to be anywhere in a hurry anymore."

"What about the others?"

"Mostly self-explanatory, now you have an idea. Fire, earth, air; I'm sure you can guess. Mind; generally about reading minds, or manipulating people's free will. Some people can plant ideas into someone's mind. That element can change who someone is entirely. Body is just... manipulating the body. You can't take people's free will on this one, but you can give people growths, or remove them. You can change someone's gender or make them breathe underwater. You change their bodies."

"Wow..."

"Yeah. But like I said, there is overlap. Air contains aether, which is things like the sky, so you can change the temperature of the air and cause thunder or whatever. It's complex and people have different bits and pieces."

"Grace saw how I died."

"The little girl? I thought she was connected to death. Pre and post cognition is usually linked to a combination of mind and space. Though, if you were there maybe mind and death, specifically yours."

"Huh..."

It was a lot to think about, but Keala just smiled at him then walked away, leaving him to absorb the information. The Williams family was linked to death, and there was a possibility the girl's mother came from a line with a connection to the mind.

As comfortable as he felt around Danny Williams now, especially as Steve seemed to be developing a close friendship with the man, he didn't think he could go around questioning the man's daughter.

John sighed and stretched, before starting a slow walk back to the house. If she got frightened every time she saw him, he would just have to leave when she came to visit.

* * *

"Hi." John jumped and spun around. Grace Williams was standing before him, her pretty face still pale, but she was smiling.

"_Hello._" He greeted. When he had gotten back, Danny had been cuddled up with his daughter while Steve had been cooking in the kitchen. He had headed straight upstairs into Steve's old room. His son had redone the master bedroom and was now sleeping in there, so John generally stayed out of it.

"I'm Grace."

"_I'm John_."

"Are you Uncle Steve's dad?"

"_Yeah_." He wasn't sure how to talk to her. He wasn't very good at talking to young children.

"I'm sorry for screaming earlier." She looked down and scuffed one foot on the floor.

"_No need to say sorry. I am sorry for scaring you._"

"It's okay. Uncle Steve said you are a good man so I don't think you meant to."

"_I definitely didn't._" Grace smiled brilliantly at him, and John felt his heart melting. He grinned back at her. She jumped forward and gave him a tentative hug. It was particularly successful because they overlapped in some places as he wasn't exactly tangible, but it could feel the warmth from her body; this was the first change in temperature since he had left his body behind. He definitely appreciated the gesture.

"Grace? You coming down? We have to head out soon."

"Coming Danno." She replied. She stepped back and went to leave, before glancing back at him. "Coming?"

He nodded mutely and followed the little girl down the stairs.

"You ever want to tell Uncle Steve something, you let me know." She whispered to him with a smile.

"_I will._"

"Goodbye, Uncle Steve." She ran at Steve and giggled when he picked her up. "Bye bye, Grandpa John."

He gaped blankly at her.

"Grandpa John?" Asked Danny.

"Yeah."

"Did you ask him if it's ok?"

Grace frowned, tightening her arms around Steve's neck as she kept silent, not answering her father's question.

"_You want me to be your Grandpa John, then that's ok_."

"Thanks." She grinned at him. "He said it's ok, Danno."

"Sure?"

"Yeah. He's my Hawaii Grandpa!"

The three of them headed out the front door, but John stayed where he was, basking in the joyful feeling the precious little girl had left behind.

* * *

John sighed as he listened to the argument about the General Pak on the radio; his son had started leaving the radio on when he went on. The man was clearly hesitant to believe the explanation Danny Williams had given him the previous week after his daughter had seen more than any little girl should.

The radio was most likely Grace's influence. She had started ringing Steve every morning and insisting he do different things for her Grandpa John. Steve generally seemed to humour her because he didn't have time to argue. It seemed Grace borrowed her mother's phone most days to call before heading out to school.

From what he could tell, Steve enjoyed arguing, or at least, having the Williams family rant at him. Every time Danny was over, Steve provoked him into ranting about something, then he would sit and grin like an idiot. The boy also did the same thing with Grace, as though he enjoyed the similarities between father and daughter.

He listened as he heard a brief mention that the Five-0 taskforce would be collaborating with other agencies to protect General Pak while he was in Hawaii. The host then moved on to discuss the theories of what it was that General Pak was doing while here. She then commented that no foreign dignitary had ever been killed while on American Soil. As the conversation moved onto various other controversial visits to the U.S. John decided to go sit outside.

The sun was sliding down in the sky when Steve came back in. He wasn't alone.

John heard the car pull up and he slowly got up and walked inside, not expecting the scene before him. Kono Kalakaua, a friend and colleague to Steve, was leading a woman and a child through to the kitchen; the woman had been shot and Kono was looking for the first aid kit. John tried to open the door with it in, unable to accept being helpless.

He left the woman to her work as he hurried through to see what was going on. In the living room, General Pak was stood staring at Steven.

"Send HPD SWAT to twenty seven twenty seven Piikoi Street. Inform all HP officers that Nick Taylor is the target. Yeah, he's armed. He's extremely dangerous." Steve hung up and John stared after him.

Had Nick Taylor been one of the men serving with Steve? He couldn't remember them all. Freddie Hart had been a close friend of his son's, but the man had died. He was sure there had been a Nick, but he couldn't think of whether or not his surname had been Taylor.

"You saved my life. Your team saved my family. Why?" General Pak approached Steve, his need to have facts clearly starting to override the shock that had been keeping him quiet.

"It's my job." Replied Steve simply. "Do me a favour, stand over there."

Steve used the couch to barricade the door. John rather hoped it survived whatever was coming; it was one of the few pieces of furniture he had changed since Doris had died.

Doris... John thought about her as he watched Chin Ho Kelly crouch down to talk to Pak's son. Chin was still a good officer, regardless of what HPD though. John watched as his home was barricaded up and his son's team geared up. He hoped this ended well.

After a while, General Pak spoke up again:

"Why do you think I brought my family here?"

"I dunno. You're a murderer. Who cares?" Detective Williams was clearly not keen to be protecting the man. It was likely his sense of duty keeping him here, and maybe an obligation to help his friends. The man had not spoken once to Pak in the two hours they had been here.

"My family is here because I'm seeking political asylum." He glared up at Danny, probably resenting the tone the detective used.

"That's why you couldn't postpone the trip." Realised Steve after a silent moment. "That's why everyone is trying to kill you."

"Let me get this straight," Danny stepped forward, "you commit all these horrible, horrible crimes and then you come over to the United States and you say 'Hey, I'd like to make a deal now, please.'"

"I'm going to testify at the U.N. against a military junta and my chairman." Replied Pak; his voice quivering, though with what John couldn't tell. "I'm going to admit to the world what I've done and pay for the crimes I committed."

"Well, tha-that's good, man." Steve sighed, clearly not done. "You should have told us, okay? Somebody should have told us!"

It began an argument, but John was impressed by Pak's resolve to try and help his country. He had evidently had a change of heart somewhere along the line.

"It's HPD." Danny said when they heard tires screeching outside the house. They all started to stand up, but Steve stopped everyone as he checked outside.

"Those aren't cops. Danny, get away from the door. Get away from the door!"

"Back up, back up." Said Danny, quickly moving over to Pak, who seemed to be starting to panic.

"Where are the police? Where is help? Where's help?"

"Help's not coming." Replied Steve shortly.

John kept back as he watched as they herded Pak and his family into the kitchen and killed the lights. John was torn. He wanted to go see if he could make a difference out front, but he didn't want to leave his boy.

"How the hell did they know we're here?" muttered Steve, head peaking just above the window as he looked outside.

"My cell phone's dead." Danny grumbled.

"Same." Gasped Kono. "Internet too."

"Everything's dead." Pointed out Chin as he checked the landline.

"I got full bars." Steve turned an intense look on his team. "Wait a minute... Taylor's killed your signals and he's cloned mine."

"What?"

"He's cloned my cell phone." Steve waved his phone at them. "Before, I wasn't talking to nine-one-one operators; I was talking to his team."

John brushed past Danny, hurrying to sit himself down as he listened with horror. He barely even noticed the man shiver. Maybe he could go find Grace and ask her to call the cops? Was it right to scare her life that? Or should he trust his son to find a way out of this. He took no note of the following conversation, concern flooding his mind more than he could manage. He watched mutely as Danny ran upstairs, Chin left the room and Steve moved through to the back of the house.

John reflected on his helplessness as he watched Steve and Kono make Molotov cocktails. He could do nothing but sit here. This felt like torment. He knew he hadn't died and gone to Heaven, but he had been assuming he was in some kind of purgatory. This felt like Hell to sit and watch his son fight for his life; to watch and do nothing...

The ringing of a phone brought him out of his stupor. Steve put the phone to his ear put was silent for a while, likely just listening to Taylor speak.

"You son of a bitch." Steve said down the phone as he began pouring gasoline into the glass bottles. He was silent for another moment, before speaking up. "I fought beside you Nick, for years. We were friends... That's not gonna happen... What happened to you, Nick?"

Steve quickly stood up, his anger evident on his features.

"You know what? I'll put a bullet in you first. How's that?... Why don't you come down here? I'll show you a couple of moves you missed?"

Steve dropped suddenly to the ground, just missing the bullet that ripped through the window.

"He's to the north." Steve shouted loudly. "Maybe three hundred metres. Stay down, he's not gonna miss again."

His son grabbed the cocktails that had been mixed up and shuffled carefully over to the window, he used a lighter to light the rags that lead to the necks of the bottles and tossed them out the window. It was only just out the window, but the fire would make any kind of night-vision useless.

It was after this that the shooting started. John moved over to the laundry room. He knew he was no good like this, but he had been a cop, he felt better just standing between the targets and the attackers.

The ammo didn't last long, then Steve and Kono were moving. His son caught on man in the back with a knife as he crept up on Kono then he headed out onto the lanai. John didn't move. He still felt some need to stay near the family that were hiding in his laundry room.

Kono crouched down nearby, quickly moving back so that she was in a corner and could see the door that the family were behind. She was well trained, he mused.

The woman didn't move till Danny and Chin shouted clear and headed downstairs. As he heard the sirens outside, John headed out back to check on Steve.

"You... have got to start doing a better job of picking your friends." Exclaimed Danny in a tired voice.

"Tell me about it. I picked you, didn't I?" joked Steve.

"Yeah." Huffed Danny, but Steve wrapped an arm around the smaller man as they headed back into the house.

As HPD moved through the remains of the McGarrett family home, Danny turned to look up at Steve.

"You need a place to sleep? I only got an airbed, or you're welcome to share my pullout, but if you want to get some sleep...?"

"Yeah... Thanks, Danno." Steve headed upstairs to get some clothes and then left with Danny, but John sat heavily down on the floor; he was too shocked at everything that had happened to focus on not going through the furniture.

* * *

Two days later, Steve came back. He and Danny set about clearing up the debris that covered every flat surface. The blonde stuck the radio on and sang loudly along; several times John caught Steve just staring at the other man with an indulgent smile on his face.

However, the one thing Danny refused to do was help with was any kind of actual rebuilding that needed doing. He sat beside a large man by the name of Kamekona and happily criticised everything Steve did.

"You see, babe. I hate to break it to you, but you are not actually a builder. I know you have this belief that you can do anything, I feel it is necessary for the good of us all to kill that part of your ego and explain that sometimes... sometimes you can call people in to do these things for you." He paused for breath, but glanced at Kamekona and started up before he could say anything. "I am not agreeing with this guy here, because I one hundred percent agree that you should leave his brothers way out of this, but you... Hang on a second, babe. Hello?"

Danny stood up and walked over to the side.

"Hello? Governor... No, I do not know why McGarrett isn't answering his phone... Yes, I shall and we will be there soon." He hung up and turned to look at Steve. "Yo, babe. Let's go."

While Steve headed upstairs to change into his cargo pants and a polo shirt, Danny showed Kamekona out.

John wandered off to see who was outside again. Keala wasn't there, but he stopped to chat with Endora and Akamu. They asked about Danny and Grace, having seen the two visit his house often. He may have bragged a little bit about his son and who close he was to them, about how good Danny was, how adorable Grace was...

They told him about how their great granddaughter was pregnant. They didn't seem to get the idea of a sonogram, but they had seen the little photo pinned to the board and knew what it meant anyway. He congratulated them, wondering if he would ever get grand children, never mind great-grandchildren.

It was all very well Grace calling him Grandpa, but she wasn't actually his and if things between Steve and Danny went the way he was expected, he probably wouldn't get any more family through his son. If Mary had any children, he wouldn't see them as long as she stayed in L.A.

It wasn't that he was objecting to Steve and Danny getting together; they would have to be idiots not to try it, especially with how happy Danny clearly made his son, but John had been expecting something with the lieutenant woman Steve was friendly with.

He sighed as he began to move back home. At least if Steve got with Danny he would be well loved; and he wouldn't have to worry about a silent, awkward home. Danny Williams seemed to bring life to everywhere he went.

He only saw Steve briefly that night. He and Danny came back and went to bed; Danny sleeping next to Steve and the other bedrooms were in desperate need to being tidied up and aired out.

* * *

He decided to skip most of the next day, he was still feeling stressed and he wanted to come back to seeing his house a little more put together, but when he did reappear, Danny and Steve were in the living room, lazing in front of the TV.

"I cannot believe how cool your ex is." Steve was saying.

"Oh, yeah. She was especially cool when I came home and found her with Stan in our bed."

The grin fell from Steve's face at Danny's bitter words. He wrapped an arm around Danny and pulled him close.

"The thing is..." said Danny, his voice shaking slightly, "I can't blame her. I think of what we had in New Jersey and I think of how she is now... She seems much happier. I spent most of my time at work, and the rest of my time focussed on Gracie. I was a shitty husband."

"Nah, Danny. No way. I refuse to accept that you could ever not be affectionate enough to someone you love."

"It's nice that you think so, but I'm not actually that good at it."

"Shut up Danny." Replied Steve and he fastened his arms around Danny, pressing a kiss to his hair. "You're a nice guy."

The house was no further along, but he stared at his boy for a long while. Maybe being with Danny would be good for him. Now he just had to work with his pseudo-granddaughter to get the two men there.


	6. Grace Williams Again

Grace sighed as she quietly moved her dolls across the floor; she was making one of them drown, so that she would tell the others what they needed to know. She would much rather be drawing a picture for Danno, but her mom had told her to play quietly in her room, so that's what she was doing.

It would have been nice to sleep for a little bit too. Even though it had been several weeks ago, Grace could still see the angry man killing Grandpa John sometimes when she tried to sleep. She would prefer to be up at night and sleep through the day because the daylight wasn't scary. She felt the most safe when she slept next at Danno's.

It wasn't all the time though. Sometimes she just felt very sad for her new Grandpa; she could see and talk to his son, she could give him cuddles and kisses, but he could not.

She had spent the time after she had finished school decorating the house, but her mom had gotten annoyed with her after a while. She had been getting in the way... Grace enjoyed covering the house with tinsel though. She used to do this with her dad and they would sing loudly at the top of their voices. Last year, her mom had stormed out but in the years before that she had laughed at them and tried to bake cookies.

She was going to see her dad for a bit on Christmas Eve at his, but after that they were going to go to Uncle Steve's and decorate it... Not that Uncle Steve knew this yet. She and Danno were keeping it a secret.

"Hey, Gracie." She looked up; Stan was standing by the door, looking down at her with a smile.

"Hey." She frowned at him for a moment. He looked sad. "Wanna play?"

"Um... sure. What are we playing?"

"Five-0!"

"What?" He sat down next to her on the floor; he actually seemed interested in the game, so she decided he could join in rather than just watching.

"You can be Chin and Kono." She handed over the two dolls. It had taken her ages to find the dolls that matched her dad's team, but she had managed it. Having Stan who was willing to play for things she really wanted helped, she would never have even looked if it had been her Danno buying.

"Are you playing as your Dad and Steve then?"

"Yeah. They are taking down a gang. It's on the mainland though, because dad says this island is so small that all the bad guys know him."

"Okay. My two are doing what then?"

"On the computer, of course. And Kono will be on the beach, surfing in case anyone says something out there."

She happily trotted her dolls around, making them fight and run. She didn't mind playing quietly in her room so much now she had someone else here. Stan was really trying as well, though he was a little too focussed on the details of what they were doing. He should be freer with the game. He clearly hadn't had Danno to play with when he was younger.

They saved the day, of course and Steve and Danno went back to Steve's house. It was made up from her wooden building blocks; it wasn't exactly complete, but at least it matched what Uncle Steve's house looked like right now.

Once she had her two favourite dolls cuddling on the beach, she looked at Stan; he hadn't moved in a while.

Stan was crying. Grace froze and stared. She had never seen an adult cry. Whenever Danno was sad he pretended to be happy until he actually was, and mommy never got sad about anything.

Danno always cuddled her when she was sad though, so she got up and sat in Stan's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. What else could she do? What would Danno do?

"It's ok, babe. What's the matter?" She even managed to make her voce sound kind of like her dad's.

"Sorry, Grace. 'm sorry." He whispered, holding her close.

"Did you argue with mommy again?"

"I try to, Grace. I'm sorry..."

"I'd like to argue with mom sometimes; but if she tells you t do something, you have to do it."

"You noticed that too, huh." He sighed but he didn't let her go. She stroked his hair with her hand, just like Danno would. "I was saying you should be allowed more time with your dad. He's a good man and I don't see why he can't drive you to school any day he isn't in work early. Your mom told me she wasn't going to let that happen and that I should leave her alone."

"So you left her alone."

"Yeah. It was probably best. I don't like arguing."

Grace leaned over and picked up her Danno doll, before settling back down and resting her head on Stan's shoulder. She cuddled the doll close.

"I'd like to see daddy every day." She whispered.

"I know." Stan whispered back.

"Can I borrow your phone?" She asked gently.

"Sure." Stan handed over his mobile phone without any hesitation. Grace dialled in a well-known number.

"Hey Danno."

"_Grace! Hey, baby. How are you?_"

"I'm ok."

"_What you calling for, babe. Shouldn't you be doing your homework?_"

"I did my homework aaagges, daddy."

"_Course you did. That's cos you're the best._"

"Have you had fun at work today?"

"_Still at work, monkey. But no, I haven't_."

"Did someone die?"

"_Yeah. A woman and her husband came here for their honeymoon. He's dead._"

"But you'll catch the killer, right Danno?"

"_Will I catch th- Of course I'll catch the killer, babe. With me after him he stands no chance!_"

"And Uncle Steve." She reminded him, because Uncle Steve kept Danno safe.

"_Well, if you count him as a help_." Danno said, he sounded like he was wrinkling his nose. He looked like a rabbit when he did that.

"He does. And Uncle Chin and Kono."

"_Well, those two are always helpful. Look, I gotta go babe. I'll talk to you later._"

"Love you, Danno."

"_Love you too, Grace._"

She hung up and gave Stan his phone back, smiling happily as she cuddled him.

* * *

The next day, Stan drove her to school. Grace stared out the window on the way, but didn't say anything. When they pulled up outside, Grace unfastened her seatbelt, but didn't get up. She watched a young boy as he sat on the steps, other children running through him as they headed into school.

"I will try and get your mom to listen later on, okay? Come here." He gave her a soft smile and a hug.

"Okay. I'll see you later, Stan."

"Have a good day, Grace."

"Be careful with mom." She warned him before stepping out the car.

She gave the boy a smile as she hurried around him to get to class. She wanted to see Katie and Tommy. Katie had a step-dad so Grace wanted to see if she liked him or not, it was weird how sometimes she liked Step-Stan more than she liked her mom.

It was Laura she ran into first. She was a new girl and like Grace, she was from the mainland; but from Alaska! She talked to Grace about snow... It was a simple thing really, but Grace missed snow. Her dad had said he'd get Steve to take her over to the big island and up the mountains when she was older, but it rarely snowed in Honolulu apparently.

Not that her dad would let Uncle Steve take her alone. She had a feeling that even when she was old, like in her thirties, her dad would still be following her around. She loved her Danno for it, really.

They chatted for a little bit, but the bell rang and Grace hurried through to her classroom.

They didn't have a busy day because it was nearly Christmas, so she spent the rest of the day drawing pictures for Uncle Steve; she included a tank because Danno said he like the army and tank were cool.

* * *

It was on Monday, Grace was watching the ocean lap at the beach with Stan when he told her the best news she could have gotten; Stan was taking mommy to Los Angeles or the weekend, so Grace would get to spend Christmas with her dad.

They were going to drop her off on Christmas Eve, and it was going to be brilliant. Stan had said it was like a present for her dad. He didn't know she was spending the weekend until Friday night, when she got there.

She couldn't wait. Hopefully, she and Danno would go to Uncle Steve's and then Kono could come by and Uncle Chin and Danno's other friends, like Kamekona. He made the best shave ice. Uncle Steve had a sister, maybe she would be there.

It wasn't the same as going to Grandma's house in New Jersey, with all her aunties, uncles and cousins there, but it could be just as fun.

"So, you don't mind that your mom and I won't be here?"

"No. It's cool." She smiled widely at him. "You will have fun and so will I."

"You certainly will."

"I hope daddy can borrow Santa's suit this year."

"Huh?"

"Every year, Santa lets Danno borrow an old suit."

"Isn't your dad a little too..."

"Small? It's an old suit, from before Santa got fat."

"Ah, ok then." Stan grinned down at her. "Your dad will manage it, I'm sure."

"Yeah. Cos Santa likes my dad."

"Everyone likes your dad! Come here." He looked sad for a moment, but then he was giving her a hug. She gave him the biggest hug she could manage to make him happy again.

"Can we go make decorations for Steve's house?"

"Doesn't he have his own decorations?"

"No. Daddy says he is boring, so I think we should make some."

"What are we waiting for?"

"Can... Can we have Christmas music?"

"Your mom is getting a manicure, so we can play it nice and loud too!"

She cheered as she hurried back to the car. They were going to make the best decorations ever.

"Does he have a tree?"

"I don't think so." They were on their way back, and Stan was clearly still thinking how to make Steve's house brighter. "But I don't think we can sneak one in."

"I was thinking we could make one."

"How?"

"We can paint the tubes from the rolls of wrapping paper, and then we can paint some envelopes green and stick them on."

"Cool!"

"I'll look online to see the best way to make one."

She giggled. Her Danno would be so happy; Steve's house would have loads of cheer this year.

* * *

On Christmas Eve, Grace phoned her dad to check Uncle Steve would be there. He laughed and said that that he would be. He said Uncle Chin would be there, and that he had had a really bad day so he would need a hug. She told him she would do her best. He said Kono would be there.

She had squealed with delight, they were all going to be there! And then they could go to Uncle Steve's and see Grandpa John. She got Stan to drop her off at Uncle Steve's first, and she put the decorations that were in a box down by the front door. Stan was the one who moved their tree carefully. She put it on the doorstep so they wouldn't forget it later.

Then they headed over to Danno's. She bounced in her seat the whole way; hopefully Santa had lent Danno his suit. He always did. When they pulled up outside she gave Stan a tight hug and ran over to the door. Kono opened it before she could; she looked really pretty.

Inside, Danno had his decorations up; he even had a stocking for all his friends and Uncle Steve was standing there with Uncle Chin and Kamekona.

"Mele Kalikimaka!" They said together and Kono ran around to stand with them.

"Merry Christmas please." She heard her dad's voice. She grinned, he liked people to use English more than Hawaiian.

"Who's that?" Asked Uncle Steve.

"Did you hear that?" Asked Kono. Grace shrugged, still grinning.

"Ho. Ho. Ho." Danno came into the room, a bag slung over his shoulder. He had Santa's suit on!

"Santa!" She laughed and hugged him. It was one of the few times her dad played dress up with her, and he got to wear a real Santa suit.

"Oh, yes. It is Santa." She squeezed him tightly. "Merry Christmas."

"Looks like you lost some weight." She said, thinking of what Stan had said earlier in the week.

"Just a little bit." He chuckled. "Come here." She gave him another hug.

"Did you get me any presents?" Asked Danno, and everyone laughed. She pulled back and then went over to Uncle Chin, pulling him down to give him a big hug. Uncle Chin wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry you had a bad day." She whispered.

"It's getting better." He replied.

"Okay." She stepped back and looked at everyone. "We are going to stay here for a little bit, and then we can all go to Uncle Steve's for dinner. Me and Stan made a present but it's on your doorstep."

"I can't wait." Answered Uncle Steve, and she decided to give him a big hug too.


	7. Danny Williams Again

So far, the year of 2011 was going rather well for Danny; while it was true that Grace still had nightmares about seeing John McGarrett murdered, but it seemed to help her to be in the same house as his ghost and to talk to him.

This meant Danny was spending a lot of time at Steve's. He had also found that whenever he stood next to Steve, John would come and stand by his other side; it wasn't that he could see the dead man, but he could feel the icy touch of his skin. Danny had stopped apologising every time he jumped away from John and knocked into Steve; his friend was now starting to find it amusing.

Danny wished he knew what Grace was chatting to John about, but every single time he came in the room, she would shut up and give him that sweet little smile that meant she was up to no good.

At any rate, Danny was now spending a good deal more time with his handsome friend. He had gotten to know Mary quite well too. She was staying elsewhere now, in a little house in the middle of somewhere he could never find, but when she realised Steve couldn't cook anything except stake and that Danny just couldn't cook, she started coming over frequently to cook for them.

Steve found it annoying, but Danny was eternally grateful, Grace went home and told them about having fun times and family meals. Also, his bills had come down since Steve refused to let him pay for food. It had meant that at the start of the year, they had been able to take Grace to the zoo. She had wanted John to come, but apparently he had wanted to go and talk to a friend of his instead.

They hadn't told Mary about the way her father's ghost was still pottering abut Honolulu though, and Grace clearly found it difficult to pretend he wasn't there when Mary was over; apart from that small thing though, life was going well.

The only other slight issue was the fact that Danny slept in Steve's bed when he was over. Grace had forbidden him from sleeping in Steve's old room because that was where John stayed when he was resting and she was making Mary's old room into hers. Danny had worried that the way she had commanded Steve to redecorate it had been rude and presumptuous, but Steve had been thrilled.

It was now a purple room with a pink border, a fluffy pink carpet and white furniture. She had new pink bed sheets and was now storing a number of clothes and toys and various other pieces of her life in that room.

So, Danny slept in Steve's bed. It wasn't as though anything awkward happened, but Steve had a tendency to sprawl out and even though Danny slept on the edge of the bed in an attempt to not disturb his friend, he found himself covered with Steve's limbs at some point in the night.

Even so, it wasn't actually awkward, because the arousal that followed him from his dreams into waking was not evident to his friend. The man was out of bed at half five every morning; it would make Danny stir slightly but Steve would tell him to go back to sleep, and Danny would follow the instruction without a word. Steve never saw neither Danny humping the bed as he slowly woke up, nor him jumping awake with a yell that he suspected held a name when he woke up with the alarm.

Danny now took a shower every morning.

It was one morning in January that something different happened.

Danny was curled up on his side, fast asleep with one of Steve's arms lying on his waist when his friend got up. There was nothing odd about him getting up at unsightly times in the morning, but he didn't tell Danny to go back to sleep. He pulled something out of his bedside draw and got up without speaking a word,

It took Danny another few moments, but he slowly opened his eyes. Sitting up, he could see his friend creeping silently down the hall, arms out in front. He must have heard something again; Danny debating going back to sleep.

Three times... The last three times Steve had heard something in the night and stalked it with his gun, it had turned out to be an animal that had gotten inside. Grace would be furious if she knew how close her dear Uncle Steve had come to shooting a poor animal.

He sighed and swung his feet out of bed, rubbing his eyes. However, he heard sounds of a commotion downstairs and he began to move. Hurrying downstairs, he could see Steve fighting several ninjas. Danny began to move forward, even got a shot off into one of the men when he felt a burning sensation that originated in his shoulder.

Eyes rolling into the back of his head, Danny fainted.

* * *

It was light by the time Steve shook him awake. Danny's eyes fluttered open as he struggled to look up at his friend through the sunlight.

"Wha-" he croaked. Steve slowly helped him up.

"Here." He passed Danny a half full glass of water. It helped.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice still a little rough. "There were ninjas..."

"They weren't ninjas Danny, but they were well trained."

"Oh." he rubbed his at sore neck, bit Steve grabbed his hand and pulled it away. "Burns."

"It will. We got popped with a stun gun."

"Ah. I thought it felt familiar." he grimaced as he struggled to his feet. "Ice..."

He didn't make it to the kitchen though. He collapsed into the hard wood of a chair by the table. Steve sat heavily down next to him, folding his arms on the table and pressing his face into them.

"We should phone... someone."

"Yeah." Steve stood up as he nodded. "I'll call Chin."

As Steve stumbled away, Danny jumped. He could feel the now well known icy sensation of John McGarrett, but he sighed in relief; the cold was lovely against the burn.

"Thanks." He mumbled and felt a cold brush against his upper arm, as though John had gripped it.

He shut his eyes, allowing the cool sensation seep into his skin. He could hear Steve on the phone, barking out instructions to Chin as he came down the stairs.

"Be nice, babe." he mumbled, and Steve grinned at him before dropping into the chair again.

By the time Chin and Kono arrived, Danny was feeling a little more normal. Danny accepted one of the baggies of ice off Chin, pressing it against his neck. He watched Steve talking to Kono and refuse the other bag when Chin offered it. Danny snorted slightly and rolled his eyes. He walked over and pushed Steve down onto the couch.

"Stop being a tough guy and take it. I was popped as well, remember? It's no fun but it's happened to me before. Ice helps."

Steve glared at Danny for a moment but it had no heat to it. Danny stared straight back, allowing a slightly grin when Steve snatched the ice off the older man.

"You've been stun-gunned?" Kono looked curiously over at him.

"Yes, I've been stunned. Hoboken, Halloween '02. It's a long story I don't wanna tell you now." It was safe to say he could never look at Batman in the same way though.

"So, how many guys were there, boss?" Kono asked, the curious glint not yet dissipated from her eyes.

"Three." Steve sighed and looked down. Danny dropped onto sofa next to his friend, feeling tired despite the fact that it was morning. Steve patted his knee briefly before looking up at Kono. Chin had wandered off somewhere. "They were professionals."

"What?"

"They were organised and precise."

"Yeah. Stun guns; gloves; knew what they were after... You were targeted."

They sat for a moment in silence, which was broken when Chin came back into the room.

"They hacked your system using your alarm company servers, so they didn't trip anything. They disarmed it as if you did it yourself."

"Did you find out where they came in?" Steve asked. Danny shut his eyes and felt his body leaning against his friend. He couldn't help being slightly jealous of the way Steve was bouncing back.

"There are boot prints leading up to and away from the back door, but there are no signs of forced entry. All the windows are secure too. If they broke in, I can't tell where... Did they take anything apart from your father's tool box?"

"No. But my father's entire investigation into my mother's murder was in that box."

Danny could feel himself drifting off; the words were little more than a blur now. Maybe he could just rest for five minutes, then he would be energised enough to do something.

* * *

His phone rang an hour and a half later. Steve had been to his sister's to check it out, but his sister was missing. They had found blood... and a tooth. Steve was coming to pick him up now.

Danny untangled himself from the blanket someone must had put over him and hurried upstairs to get dressed.

At the office, they found that Steve's sister was not the one who had lost a tooth; it helped Steve relax a fraction. Maybe it was the idea that Mary had managed to fight back.

Mary had called a man called Mamo, so they headed out to visit him.

Mamo had told Steve's sister about the car bomb that had killed Doris McGarrett. He had been someone John had turned when he had needed help and now the older man had found himself unable to lie to his dead friend's daughter when she came looking for answers.

It turned out a six foot Asian cop had been looking around the car before Steve's mom.

"I should have seen this coming." grumbled Steve while they were driving back.

"You should have seen what coming?" Danny asked while trying to think what the man was on about. "The kidnapping?"

"No." Steve replied quickly. "Mary digging around the box. I mean, she's my sister. I know what she's like; the minute she found out Dad was looking into our mother's murder, then I think she would never have let that go. And now, it's my fault she's missing. I don't know where she is. For all I know, righ-"

"You don't know anything, all right?" Danny interrupted, unwilling to listen to his friend blame himself for things beyond his control. "Your sister, Mary, is a very smart girl. Can we just think positive a little bit? Can we do that?"

"Look, Danny. They took her; she saw their faces."

"They took her because she is valuable to them." Mary wasn't allowed to be dead yet. "You understand that? She is valuable. She knows what's inside that box. They wanna know what she knows, okay? This is a good thing. This keeps her alive, you understand?"

Steve sighed in audible relief as his brotherly concern took a backseat to the common sense Danny was spurting out.

"All right. We're gonna find her. We're gonna find her. And then after that, we're gonna find that cop that Mamo saw." Steve's brain was clearly still going a million miles a minute, but Danny let him plan. "I need a list of all the officers on the force at the time of my mom's murder."

"Do you not think your father didn't already investigate these guys?" He may as well get Steve to plan in the right direction.

"Yeah, I'm sure he did, but don't you think there's a reason he didn't make an arrest?"

"Absolutely, evidence," duh, "he didn't have any, all right? You go after a cop, better make sure you know what you are doing or you will have an entire department coming after you."

Steve's phone began to ring and the man glanced at Danny, his eyes giving away his concern.

"It's Mary. Mary, Mary, where are you?"

"_Steve?_" The man had stuck it onto speaker. "_Oh my God, Steve I'm so sorry._"

"All right, calm down. Calm down. Listen to me, where are you? Mary? Tell me where you are?" Steve's voice was steady, but Danny could easily pick up on the worry that was filling him.

"_I'm in a trunk of a car!" _she sobbed.

"We need to triangulate her signal." Steve's intense gaze turned towards Danny before flicking back to the road.

"Okay." Danny didn't argue, especially not as he could still hear Mary wailing away in the back ground.

"Listen to me Mary; you gotta trust me on this one. I'm gonna find you, I can promise you that but you gotta do what I say, all right"

"Chin, we got Mary up on her cell." Danny barked down the phone as soon as he heard Chin usual '_Aloha_' on the other end of the line. "We need a location now; you gotta run a trace."

The man didn't reply, but Danny knew his friend would be on it. Steve started instructing his sister to make the car she was in more recognisable by kicking out the taillight housing.

She was climbing up a dirt road. She was just telling them she could see a cement structure when she cut out.

Chin had not managed to get a location, but they quickly worked out she was on the Pali Highway. Naturally, Steve decided to swing them around. He dropped a hint about a car being too slow to get there, but wouldn't tell Danny what he meant by that.

He figured it out pretty quickly when they drove into an area filled with small planes and helicopters. Danny decided not to mention the issues he had had with both flying and confined space; instead he jumped out the car and pulled on his vest, Steve would need someone there anyway.

It took Danny a few minutes to open his eyes, and when he did he felt as though someone was pulling on his stomach. They were high and Steve was not a careful, gentle pilot; he was hurrying. Danny focussed on searching for a car on the Pali Highway and the dirt tracks around it that had had the taillight housing kicked out. He kind of wished they had asked Mary which side she had kicked out.

He phoned HPD to get road blocks set out and the trunks of passing cars searched, determined not to focus on anything but helping his friend. He was aware that many would be jealous of where he was, in a small place, beside a gorgeous man flying over fabulous scenery... He didn't care.

He managed a slight smile when Steve spotted a car by the east ridgeline with the housing kicked out. He checked it out, agreed with his friend then focussed on his breathing and the fact that he hadn't eaten more than a sandwich today, so he did not need to be sick.

They swung down into a very bumpy landing in front of the car, but instead of falling to his knees and settling his stomach, Danny drew his gun as he jumped out the car.

Mary was there, duct-taped up in the boot of the car. Danny smiled as he watched the siblings embrace, relief flooding his own veins at seeing her alive and mostly well. He then turned away to phone Chin, who would sort out the rest.

Steve walked over and wrapped his arms around Danny's waist, gripping him tightly as the tension bled out of him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, Danny."

But Steve didn't let go, so Danny wrapped his arms around the man's shoulders and held on. As they rocked slightly, Danny could see Mary smirking at them. He buried his face into Steve's neck to he wouldn't have to look at her.

The paramedics arrived a while later while they were sat in the back of the helicopter together. Steve's arm was still slung around Danny, which he rather liked.

When they got back, Danny headed straight off to the ME's office to see who Mary's kidnappers were. Yakuza... This naturally led to Steve taking one of their bikes and riding it up the stairs into their hideout.

Steve began to ask questions, and Danny looked along the line. There was one man in the line up who really reminded him of Sang Min...

"What's this?" Steve said as he looked at one of them. "Say 'ah'."

The man was decidedly uncooperative.

"All right." Steve spoke up. "Everybody hit the road except for our friend here."

"Out, go on." grumbled Danny, watched as the place cleared.

"Danny?"

"Yes, Steven?"

"Theoretically, if you wanted to open this guy's mouth, how would you do it?" There was something ridiculously hot about Steve asking him for help, especially when Danny knew the man was more than capable of opening a guy's mouth on his own.

"Oh, oh. Well, there's the, uh... The punch in the gut." He struggled to focus on what he was doing and not the way Steve's muscles looked. "That's good. There's the knee to the joint. And I... I, of course, have the Williams family favourite." Though it was probably best if Steve didn't ask why there was a Williams family favourite...

"What's that?" Steve asked quietly.

Danny moved forwards, grabbing the guy's hair and pulling him backwards as he stuck a finger in the side of his mouth, wary of the teeth. Steve shone the light from his gun into the guy's mouth.

"Yep, look at that. Missing a tooth. Looks recent too. Stay there." Steve took his phone and left Chin and Kono to arrest him.

* * *

Kono worked her magic on the phone and the found that Hiro Noshimuri had been the main contact. Noshimuri seemed like a respectable guy, and Steve realised that the name was the one he had been trying to decode from the postcards that had been in the toolbox.

Danny was glad Mary had thought to photograph everything; he meant it when he had said she was a smart girl.

Steve explained that his father had been corresponding with and that they had given his father the name Hiro Noshimuri. His father had been trying to work out who the local boss in was. Steve realised this was why they had wanted his father dead, why they had planted a bomb in the car.

Steve decided he had to go confront the guy, and Danny reluctantly went along. Confronting a business man and accusing him of killing his mother and abducting his sister? This was going to go down well.

Noshimuri was calm and collected in the face of Steve threatening him. However, they were interrupted by the governor, who was there to have a meal with him. He stormed out, and a little under two hours later the governor marched in, heading straight to Steve's office.

Danny sat in his office and wondered what he would do if she fired them. The thought about his beautiful little girl and his emotionally stunted best friend. He didn't want to go anywhere.

Thankfully, when Steve came in to see him it was to tell him to investigate Noshimuri, not to tell him to get packing. Danny grinned happily as he watched Steve explain how he wanted Danny to find out everything. He was gorgeous in his intensity.

His search quickly led to them clearing out a number of places, which housed Yakuza. Steve would need a stronger connection than them squatting in places owned by Noshimuri though.

It was on their final one that Chin got the information he had been trying to find; the cops from 1992. Hiro Noshimuri had a brother called Koji who had been on the force then. Steve manhandled Danny back to the car in his rush to get home. He knew his father would have a group photo of the cops from 92, and they needed an old photo to show Mamo.

They headed over to Mamo, and though Danny worried briefly about whether or not they had a tail, they got there without incident. Mamo was explaining he wasn't entirely certain when they started getting shot at again, this time it was apparently one of the guys who had attacked them at some stupid time in the morning.

One guy they shot, but his friend escaped. He died before they got any information from him. Steve made some more threats, now it was down a phone that came off the dead guy. He assumed it was Hiro.

* * *

"She had been phoning HPD." Steve told Danny once they were home. Mary was upstairs, in the shower and then Steve was driving her to the airport. She had a bag packed and it was sat by the front door because Steve wanted her off Hawaii in an attempt to keep her safe.

"Maybe she has the same intense focus you have." He grinned at Steve.

Steve wrapped an arm around Danny and pulled him close, and the smaller man settled comfortably against his chest. The day had been long. Kono had found the toolbox, emptied out; Steve had gone off to confront Hiro face-to-face, pleased that they had some evidence, his prints over the lid of the box and Steve had finished up by threatening Koji and telling the tall man who had been with the brothers, Wo Fat, to go home.

"Thanks." He whispered.

When Steve got up to take her away, it felt cold.

It was nearly two hours after Mary's flight would have left that Danny received a phone call; Koji Noshimuri had been killed in a car accident. Big coincidence, no doubt. He headed into the office, assuming correctly that Steve would be there.

Danny ordered takeaway and they ate it in Steve's office.

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Danny was still hanging around Steve's. Steve was in the kitchen doing the dishes while getting ready.

The postman brought a parcel for Steve, which was meant to contain a master cylinder. Danny couldn't help laughing when he saw his face, then proceeded to have a go at his friend for ordering things online; he had learnt from Christmas that things ordered online didn't turn out well.

They then got a phone call off Chin, he and Kono had been in a car chase. The guy had crashed but he had had a box in his car. It contained a head. Danny turned away. It was not pleasant. The driver was pulled out, gasping the name "Ming-Hua" but they didn't know if that was him, or a boss, or someone else. He died before they got any further.

They got in contact with the man that had rented the car their dead guy had been driving, but he was useless and they were no closer to identifying either of the men.

Max was not much help, other than giving them a hint that the intact victim may be a gang member. When they got back Max phoned to say there was a link to the Waipahu area, which was an area that was home to a number of Chinese immigrants.

They headed out to Waipahu and were directed to a repair yard for cars. It was there they came across Ming-Hua, a young boy and the grandson of the man in charge. Danny had a feeling he knew how the driver fit into this.

The boy's father was their victim, and the son of the aging man; he was called Han Chi. Danny could clearly see the remnants of their family lines when they showed him the body.

Mr. Chi, the driver's father, told them his son had been given a $1000 job, that he wouldn't kill anyone. Danny wanted to believe him, and when it turned out they were here illegally and that was the reason had had run away, Danny kind of felt like he did.

While they were in car, Danny asked why Steve got goofy when people's fathers were involved. They dissolved into an argument, but it was just a release of tension, like their usually arguments were.

Chin called them to say he and Kono were checking out hospitals to follow down a lead Max had given them on the head.

This gave them the information they were after. The head was Henry Duncan, a thirty five year old high school physics teacher. Chin had been unable to contact the wife, Nicole, because all they got was a busy signal.

Danny and Steve headed off to check out the address.

There were signs of forced entry, so the two men drew their guns and made their way through the house. Danny crept carefully from room to room, making no nose other than to shout 'clear'. He didn't think she was here though, he couldn't see any lines. It wasn't that he could find someone and follow the line, they were faded away the further from a person's body they were, so he was pretty sure there was no one there.

It turned out he was correct. The house was empty, the place a mess and the phone off the hook. There was blood splatter on the walls and a broken heel on the floor.

It turned Nicole Duncan was missing. The last outgoing call was to Hawaiian Airlines, which was no good to them. The last incoming call was better; it was to a man named Robert Rovin, who had been on the list Chin had sent of possible destinations for Han Chi.

When Danny phoned Chin to check in with him, the man revealed that Henry Duncan was Rovin's son-in-law... which meant that he was Nicole's father. They had to inform him that Henry was dead and Nicole was missing.

His behaviour was somewhat suspicious, especially as he kept checking his watch. He panicked when the phone rang and Steve had noticed two silver briefcases by the door, as well as the black leather one leaning against his desk.

Danny wanted to feel sympathy for the man, he did not know what he would do if Grace went missing, but the man had been acting oddly. As they reached the car, they could see Rovin heading out with two silver briefcases in his hand.

Driving after him, they ended up at the docks. They happily bickered about who would be which character in CHiPs before watching Rovin meet someone.

The mystery man dropped the cases and ran when they came after him, but they caught up with him, shooting him when he drew on them. It was Spenser Owens, the man who had rented the car that Han Chi had been driving.

It turned out that Nicole had been kidnapped and Rovin had received a ransom for $5 000 000. He had been informed that Henry had tried to escape and been killed, and that they would kill Nicole if Rovin told anyone. When Rovin told them he was meant to receive a package to let him know they were serious, Danny realised he meant the head in the box.

They found the rest of Henry's body in the boot of the Spenser's car.

The house of Spenser Owens turned up some interesting points. While Nicole was not there, they found where Henry's head had been separated from the body; they found Spenser's bags packed and his passport on top. Nicole had made a call to Hawaiian Airlines from her house.

Danny finally put it all together, especially when he saw the glasses of champagne sat on the table.

"I wonder what shade Nicole wears." He muttered, feeling vaguely ill at the idea that she had been in on the whole thing; people made him sick sometimes.

Chin found that Spenser Owens was booked on a flight out the country with one female passenger. They were headed to Paris.

At the airport, Danny saw the strangest thing; Nicole Duncan. The woman was a sociopath. She had no blue line, even though she had been married and had a boyfriend. Her red family lines were tainted into a dark brown, almost black colour. She only wanted the money from her father.

She didn't care that Steve was getting worked up about the deaths she had caused.

* * *

Danny let Steve take his car, getting Kono to drop him off at Steve's. First, he got her to stop into a Video Rental Shop and he borrowed the DVDs of CHiPs for them to watch later on.

When Steve got back home, he was smiling that sad little smile of his.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"I just spoke to the governor for Mr. Chi and his family." Steve simply shrugged. "Take away?"

"Sure."

"Chinese?"

"I'll have my usual, babe."

Steve disappeared off to make the call and Danny put the DVD into the player, setting it all up.

When Steve wandered back in with two beers, Danny jumped slightly; for a moment, he thought he had seen evidence of a blue line, but it had gone. It was probably his imagination, he mused as he settled down, allowing his friend to sling an arm around his shoulders as he set the DVD going.


	8. Steve McGarrett Again

_Just in case I confused anyone with the last chapter, blue lines represent a sort of soulmate type relationship. You only get one, but it has to form and grow, it's not just automatically there, as opposed to the red family lines which show who you are related to._

* * *

The day started in a very different way to normal. Usually, Steve woke up with Danny in his arms, but this morning Danny was nowhere to be seen. Steve sat up and stared at the empty side of his bed; it really hadn't occurred to him how often Danny stayed over, but to wake up in bed with no Danny there was strange.

It was even stranger when he considered the fact that Catherine was over and they hadn't had sex, that she had spent the night in Grace's room and that Steve had actually complained when Danny had gone home last night.

He flopped back down into his pillows. It was later than usual, just after seven, but it had taken him a long time to get to sleep. He had apparently gotten used to Danny sleeping next to him... He really felt as though he should examine that idea further, but he realised he could hear tsunami sirens going off.

He jumped out of bed and began pulling on clean clothes when his phone began to ring. Next door, he could hear Catherine's.

"Governor?"

"_Commander. We have a tsunami warning going off; as I'm sure you can hear."_

"What's the ETA of the first wave?"

_"We have a little over three hours, from what we can tell. But, that's not why I'm calling, Commander. I need to you get in here. Dr. Russell is missing and he is vastly important in an event like this._"

"I'll be there in, like five minutes, Governor."

"_All right. I'll see you when you get here._"

He hung up and finished dressing, quickly checking in on Catherine, who explained that she was heading back to the Enterprise to ride the waves out. He phoned Danny, but got no answer. He decided to set off and try again once he got to the office.

Once he got in, he headed straight up to the governor's office.

"Commander." she greeted him, holding out her hand.

"Governor." he shook it.

"We're short on time so I'll make this quick. Dr Norman Russell is the head of the warning centre. He's gone missing. He is an expert on tsunamis, and he should have been the first in. I know it's a bother to send five-0 out for one person in a time like this, but he is vital. Apparently they have had some inconsistency with the data and they need him to sort it out for them."

"So... find Dr Russell."

"And get him to the warning centre, yes."

"Got it."

"I'll send what information I have to your office."

Steve nodded and hurried off, recognising the dismissal. He was phoning Danny before the door had even shut behind him.

"_What's up?_" Danny picked up straight away this time.

"Hey, I need you to meet me at the Tsunami Warning Centre at Ewa Beach, all right?"

"_What, right now?_"

"Yeah. Now." he set off, pulling out into the traffic. "The head of the centre, Dr Norman Russell, has gone missing."

Danny was silent. Steve frowned at his phone even as he drove.

"Hey, you there?"

"_Yeah. It's just... I got Grace and umm ... Stan and Rachel are out of town_." ah, maybe that was why Danny had left yesterday.

"You got anybody to watch her?"

"_No, I don't_." Danny didn't sound happy. "_Why, you got anything in mind_?"

"Yeah." he grinned. Kamekona would be free, no one was going to be buying shave ice while they panicked and hurried away.

He made a quick phone call to their friend, who happily agreed to keep an eye on Danny's precious little girl. He told the man to meet them in the same place.

When he got there, Steve headed straight over to Kamekona, who was already waiting. He checked, to his friend's amusement, the whole vehicle, but he knew if something was wrong and Steve hadn't looked it over, Danny would get seriously worked up and then avoid him.

Overall, the thing didn't seem too bad. Steve then proceeded to inform Kamekona of what he should avoid saying to Danny. He normally would be so fussed, but now was not the time for the smaller man to be worrying about Grace. He required Danny's full attention.

"Howzit brother?" greeted Kamekona as the two walked over to them. "I hear you got a high priority assignment for me."

Steve looked at Danny, pleased to see he didn't seem too stressed yet. He was glad Kamekona was using tact, but the man had some sympathy for the concern Danno would have over Grace.

"That's right, yeah." muttered Danny. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Those light blue eyes focussed on Steve as he tried to be reassuring.

"He looked after my sister."

"Yeah, I know, and your sister ran away."

"Hey, that's bulai, brah. She tricked me." Kamekona turned the attention back towards himself. "Playing on my emotional vulnerabilities."

"That part's true." chimed in Steve, trying not to feel as the he wanted to be the focus of those eyes again.

"Shut up, you." he got a finger pointed at him.

"And besides, I'm great with Keikis. I got this."

"Uh-huh." Danny turned to look at his daughter. "Baby, you remember Kamekona, from Christmas? Yeah?"

"Mmm-hmm." nodded the girl.

"What do you say? I mean, word on the street is he's a lot of fun. You wanna go hang out with him for a little bit?"

Grace frowned for a moment before turning her puppy eyes on Danny. Steve was glad he wasn't the attention of them; he had not yet learnt how to say no.

"But I wanna stay with you."

"That's understandable." Steve loved watching these two together. Danny knelt down before Grace so he could look at her properly. "But listen, you're gonna go play at his house for a little while because it's really far away from the water, okay? And that's what I want you to do. Hmm? The second we get this thing figured out, which will be very soon, I can assure you that, I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna get you, I promise. Okay? Is that okay?"

"Okay." said Grace softly, clearly recognising Danny's need here.

"You like shave ice, Grace?" asked Kamekona, now working to reassure the child. She nodded. "Killer. I've been working on some new flavours. I need a taste tester, you down with helping me out?"

"Yeah." Grace grinned, easily bribed.

"Awesome. I'll take care of her."

"All right." sighed Danny, pulling his girl in for a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too, Danno." she replied. She turned and gave Steve a hug as well, making him grin.

"You keep an eye on him for me." whispered Steve, which made her giggle.

"You got, uh, seatbelts in that?" asked Danny, his attention now moving.

"Danny." Steve tried to hurry his friend up.

"No worry. No worry. Trust me, brother. Got your back, you guys know that."

Danny clapped the large man on the shoulder and walked over to Steve, who rested a hand on his shoulder while they watched Grace climb in.

As they turned and headed into the centre, Danny asked why it was they were looking for just one man rather than helping the thousands of other people. He explained that that was person was responsible for the safety of the thousands, which reassured Danny enough to move the conversation to other things.

Inside, they met Sheldon Tunney, the deputy director of the centre and Commander Sam Hale of the coast guard. The place was in a panic and Steve began extracting the necessary information as best he could.

Sheldon declared the next level for the warnings, before turning his attention to them. The man took them into his office and explained what Steve had already heard from the governor, that the data they were received was filled with anomalies that they needed Dr Russell in interpret.

Steve asked for more detail, but Danny asked him to make it a little simpler. Sheldon explained that there was no consistency between one reading and the next, using a computer simulation to show it visually. Steve asked about other warning centres, but apparently this was the main one in the Pacific Rim. Sheldon explained that the satellite centre in Alaska was receiving conflicting data as well though.

"So you have no idea what's coming at us, is that right?" Danny summed up.

"I can make an educated guess based on the most recent data, but we're talking about a wave that could be the size of a three story building and travelling at the speed of a jet plane. I don't wanna guess." He made a good point.

"Looks like Tommy was telling the truth for once." muttered Danny. Steve glanced curiously at him.

"Who's Tommy?"

"He's an eight year old boy."

Whatever. Steve shook his head to try refocus on the problem. Apparently Dr Russell practically developed the technology, so they needed him to make sense of the data. Sheldon's last contact with the man had been when they had left the office at five in the evening. They had started receiving data about the tsunami at 6am but Dr Russell hadn't turned up.

They received a call of Chin, who explained that there were signs of a fight at Dr Russell's house. He placed a hand on Danny's shoulder and pulled the man away and towards his car. They first dropped Steve's car off at the office, it was on the way and Steve slid in behind the wheel of the camaro and with Danny beside him they set off again.

Once at the house, Steve tracked what he believed were the actions of the men involved. Just as they were commenting that there could be a gunshot wound, a young woman entered the place.

"What happened? Where's my dad?!"

Danny took the young woman, Courtney, to the side and the others looked around. Steve stood next to Danny and listened to his soft voice as he carefully explained the problem and asked her about when she had spoken to her father. She couldn't recall any abnormalities in their conversation.

She didn't want to leave though, but Danny placed a hand on Steve's arm to explain he would take care f this so Steve headed outside. A moment later, Courtney and Danny followed, the woman holding a photo frame in her arms.

Kono was talking to Danny as Steve hovered by the door, waiting to see if Chin came up with anything but wanting to watch Danny. She had noticed skid marks and white paint chips just outside the house, it seemed someone had pulled away quickly and clipped Russell's car. The two pointed out an empty sandbag as well.

Chin called him in. He had retraced the last digital steps of Russell, and noted something strange. He had logged in at 5.32am, but he had made two incorrect password attempts first. It was odd because they were the exact same password both times; 1015. The real password was COURTNEYROSE, his daughter's name. It had been entered before the buoys had picked up the first indications of a tsunami.

As they set off again, heading back to the office, Danny wondered about why they were still at ground level. Mamo phoned though, interrupted Danny before he could really get going. The older man refused to believe there was a tsunami coming. Steve took a mental note, his gut was telling him there was something odd about this tsunami, but he told Mamo to obey the police anyway.

While Danny ranted about the credibility of watermen, Steve wondered about the reasons someone might kidnap Dr Russell. He had no classified government secrets or anything. He didn't get who would benefit.

Danny grumbled something about sellers of bottled water and gasoline, but it still didn't add up. Danny clearly read something in his expression though, because he started talking again.

"That was a joke, Steven. This isn't someone starting a fire to empty a crowded theatre. This is a natural disaster. You cannot create a tsunami."

But what if you could...

* * *

Steve headed back to the centre to ask Sheldon how the early warning system worked. He wanted to know if someone, for example, Dr Russell could intercept it. The explanations got down to the very basics for Danny, but the buoys sent information to a satellite and the satellite sent it back down to the centre.

Sheldon explained that it was a clean feed from the satellite to the centre, so Steve wondered if the satellite could be receiving false data. Steve decided to call Cath; she would be able to track whether or not there was a false signal sending data.

The thoughts of a second satellite confused Danny though and Steve didn't really want to take time out to explain. Catherine found the data he wanted and sent them a location, including that there was one person there. He thanked her and decided he could let Danny know what he was thinking in the car.

They headed over to the Ala Wai harbour. Steve explained that a person could send a false signal to the satellite instead of the buoy sending it, but it seemed Danny had caught up. Caught up and moved onto the fact that they were heading back towards the water and that he didn't want to die.

"While I do not mind that your face is the last one I am going to see, I do not want to die yet on an island I never should have come to in the first place!" he was ranting

"I know you like it here." said Steve, just to get the man going again.

"I like it... Incorrect. You are incorrect, my friend."

"Then why the board? Huh?" he jerked a thumb at the surfboard that was in the car with them. "I mean, did Hell freeze over? Did I actually miss out on seeing you trying to get up on that thing?" He tried to imagine it, the thought of Danny in nothing more than a pair of shorts. He had found that even in bed, Danny still wore, long pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt.

Danny changed the topic though; asking why he thought Dr Russell was on the boar in the harbour. Steve pointed out that this was where the second signal was coming from. Danny grumbled that he hoped he was right because in forty five minutes they could be sleeping with fishes. Steve had no reply.

Once they pulled and jumped out, Chin called to tell them the wave had picked up speed and was coming in now. Steve looked at the water. In a tsunami, the water retreated back before the main wave came. The water was as still as ever.

"It's not coming." he told Danny. "The water's not receding. If the wave was coming the water would be receding."

"Nobody else, nobody else finds that significant enough to call this thing off."

"Danny, there's nobody else here. There's no one around and nobody else knows about the second signal." He set off towards the boat Cath had told them about, the Avery Claire, hoping he had done enough to reassure his friend for now.

On board, there was a young woman with a laptop, but no one else. It had to be her.

"Just a wild guess, that's not Dr Russell." Steve grinned as Danny spoke up.

"Yeah, I don't think so."

They split up, Steve going one way and Danny the other. She ran when she spotted Steve opening the door and he gave chase, running up onto deck after her jumping down onto the dock and then up onto another boat when Danny blocked her escape. Steve followed her over the boats, but Danny stopped her effectively using the masthead from the boat and making it collide with her.

They sat her back onto the Avery Claire, but Danny was still wary about being on the water.

"The tsunami's not real, is it?" Steve interrupted his friend to talk to the woman.

"Maybe it's late. What if it's late?"

"The warning centre's been picking up her signal, not the actual feed from the satellite." He really rather hoped it would stick in Danny's head this time. "She's been transmitting false signals since this thing started."

"Okay, naughty, naughty, naughty hacker. If that is true, understand you are in a lot of trouble, so who are you and who are you working for?"

Steve walked off to call Chin. "Hey, we're still dry."

"_Yeah, sorry. It was a false alarm. Right after you hung up, the buoy's warning sensors updated and pushed the wave's arrival time back to 11am. That's still not a lot of time for you to get out of there._"

"It's okay. I don't believe the tsunami's real. Russell wasn't on the boat but we found the source of the fake signal. It's a hoax."

"_A hoax?_" Chin sounded understandably irritated. "_That's a hell of a practical joke. How can you be sure?"_

"Well, we can't which is why right now we stick to the primary plan."

"_You remember what I told you about coincidences?"_

"They take a lot of planning."

"_The false alarm hit at 10.15."_

"Ten-fifteen? As in one zero one five?"

"_That's Dr Russell's failed password."_

"He knew, and he was trying to tip us off by manipulating the data."

"_That's what I think too._" agreed Chin. "_But what I don't get is why take Russell and then have him fake a tsunami_?"

"To create a distraction." answered Steve, as he watched Danny talk to the young woman on the boat. He didn't seem to be getting anywhere. "Any potential witnesses have cleared out; the police are busy with the evacuation."

"_It's the perfect time to pull off something big._"

"You guys see if you can figure out what they're after. We're gonna work on trying to find Dr Russell."

"_Got it._"

He hung up and stormed over to the boat. He had had enough for today. After a quick word with the woman, he headed downstairs to get her laptop. Dr Russell had to be sending her the data for her to transmit it to the satellite.

He woke the laptop up and it showed him an image of the woman with her daughter. Danny began talking about how quickly children lose their memories and how quickly they grow up. Steve followed up by saying she could go to jail for five to ten years for the kidnapping of Dr Russell. She decided to talk.

She told them she didn't know any Dr Russell, but she received an email with new data every eight minutes. She was getting $25000 to transmit it over the tsunami warning frequency. Unfortunately, it was done anonymously. She had been sent a pager and the money, so when she receiving data, she started broadcasting.

It was to last until noon.

Danny passed her laptop back and told her to start hacking to find out where the emails were coming from.

As she got to work, Danny walked off to the side and pulled out his phone.

"Yo, Fridge. What's good? How's my baby girl?" Danny must be calling Kamekona. "Okay, hold on. What is that sound? Please do me a favour, don't do the part where the king throws his enemies off the cliff."

Steve grinned as he watched his friend, squinting as he was in the sunlight.

"Can I just speak to her, please? Baby, how you doing?... No, you gotta hang in there a little bit longer for me. Okay? I'm gonna be there as soon as I can... I love you, monkey."

He walked over to them again.

"Hey, everything okay?" Steve asked, acting as though he hadn't been listening to every word that came out of Danny's lips.

"Is it okay? Yeah. It's perfect. My daughter's spending the day with an ex-criminal informant and everything is just peachy. I blame you." For once, he wasn't directing this at Steve, but at their hacker.

Thankfully, she got them a location.

* * *

The streets were empty as they drove through them. They were heading to an old storage warehouse down at the docks, according to Chin. Danny asked about the paint chips from Russell's house. Kono told them she had narrowed it down to government vehicles and then they had narrowed it down again using high value evac targets in the impact zone. They decided to focus on getting Dr Russell though, rather than whatever was going down elsewhere.

They entered into the side of the building and quickly worked on clearing it. Kono got eyes on Dr Russell.

A noise distracted the kidnapper and Steve and Kono took advantage of it. He raised his weapon anyway so Steve shot him. He fell backwards through a window and down to the floor below. Steve hurried over to look down with Kono.

"You couldn't have walked him down the steps?" Danny shouted up as he climbed out of the forklift he must have used for a distraction.

"What's in his hand, Danny? He drew his gun on me, okay?"

Danny gave him a little wave, grinning as he turned away. Steve went to check on Dr Russell.

They quickly got an identity of the kidnapper so Steve left Dr Russell in the care of HPD. Harrison Dunphy was the dead man in the warehouse. He had been dishonourably discharged from the coastguard years ago. Steve got Kono to narrow down their targets again to just coast guard vehicles with white paint.

Chin recognised Dunphy. HPD and the coast guard had worked together in a particular case eight years ago, where they had impounded seven hundred kilos of cocaine and millions of dollars in cash.

Twenty eight million to be precise. It was now sat in HPC asset forfeiture locker.

It was in the centre of the evacuation zone and there was a vehicle parked outside.

Steve frowned as they debated what to do. They had stolen $10 million to save Chin's life from Hesse. Danny solved it by pointing out he could never look his daughter in the face again if they sat back and did nothing.

In the car, Danny called HPD; the closest unit was ten minutes away. That was ridiculous. Steve demanded to know who ordered them so far away. Instructions had come from Commander Hale. He was from the coast guard...

Steve remembered meeting him this morning. They had been played by him.

"Hey, hands! Hands! Hands!" Danny shouted as soon as they stopped, they both drew their weapons.

Danny walked around to spot the scuff marks on the truck as Lukela showed up. The back of his truck was empty, but Steve knew he was right. While Hale was ranting angrily about how they were stopping him from helping to evacuate the city, Kono pulled a single sandbag out of the back of the truck.

"Recognise this?" she called over to Danny. Hale froze. "We found one just like it outside of Dr Russell's house."

"It's a sandbag." Lukela said. "There's thousands everywhere."

"Yes, there are." He smirked as he walked over to the steps of the HPD, where there were sandbags stacked up. Feeling them, he ignored the ones that felt like sand and cut into one with a different feel. It had money inside.

It was actually quite clever, to take the money when they collected the sandbags. Hale was bitter that he was losing his job without pensions or benefits.

"Book him, Danno."

* * *

That afternoon, Steve had collapsed on his lanai with a beer. Danny was sat in the sand with Grace. It had been close, but somehow the twenty eight million was all present and accounted for. Despite the confusion, he and Danny were relaxing before having the team over for a barbeque.

He set his beer down and pulled himself up, heading over to them.

"You okay?"

"I'm okay, Uncle Steve." Grace smiled at him.

"You weren't scared today?"

"No. Kamekona's family have the water element; they said there was no tsunami."

"Water element?"

"Uh-huh." She went back to playing, clearly content with her explanation so Steve turned to Danny.

"Uhh... Let's head inside."

Danny stood up, brushing the sand off his trousers as he went. Steve followed, but Grace stayed where she was.

"Don't stay out too long, monkey."

"I know, Danno." She replied in a long suffering tone.

Inside, Danny sat on the couch with his head in his hands, clearly trying to think. Steve waited.

"Okay. You know how Grace can see dead people?"

He still wasn't entirely sold on that one, but he nodded anyway.

"That's because my family had the death element in the family line."

"What does that even mean?"

"That... Well, Gracie can see dead people, she can talk to them; I can move dead bodies, ummm... my brother can hear dead people, but not in the same way Grace can. I knew a man in New Jersey who could kill people just by touching them, though I don't think we have anyone like that in my family."

"Oh." He stared at Danny, unsure of what to say.

"Well, there are other elements."

"How many?"

"Seven. There is a possibility of eight, but I'm not sure if I believe in the time and space, fabric of the universe style one."

"Little more detail?" Though, he wasn't sure if he wanted it.

"Umm... Hawaii has fire and water as its two main elements. There is also air and earth; body; mind; and like I said, death."

"No life?"

"Part of death."

"Oh."

"And there are different... abilities in these elements. The most common are to be able to manipulate the element, or to create it, or to become it. But not all of them have it. You can't become death, and you can't create a mind, for example."

"Oh." He couldn't think of anything to say. "So Grace really can see ghosts?"

"Yeah."

"And you can move dead people?"

"Don't ask me to. I hate it."

"Oh." Danny stood up and walked into the kitchen. Steve could hear him call out to Grace, before he came back and pressed a glass of water into Steve's hand.

"You okay?"

"No one ever said."

"It's not talked about... Go have a lie down."

Steve obeyed, heading upstairs and lying down.

* * *

There were people over when he stirred again. He could hear them downstairs. Steve sighed and headed for the shower, he felt better.

"Hey, babe." Danny greeted him once he headed down. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks." He pulled Danny into a hug, breathing in deep the scent of his friend. Danny tucked his face into Steve's neck and they stood together for a moment. "So... Elements you say?"

"Yeah." Danny pulled back. "I'm not the only one, but I'm not telling you who has one. It's not fair."

"Okay." He'd think about it later, he had a barbeque to look after.

* * *

Just one week later, they had another big case. Julie Masters had gone missing. She was the key witness to the prosecution of Aaron Brenner for his involvement in a drug cartel. He was ten years overdue his jail cell.

HPD had lost contact with the squad cars they had sent to get her, and they couldn't get in contact with the marshals looking after her. They set off to go look at the location where she had been staying.

As they headed out, Danny had his phone to his ear. Chin explained how Rachel was now leaving him voicemails so that they didn't argue in front of Grace. Danny stopped walking though, and Steve turned to look at him.

"Danny, what's up?"

Danny didn't reply. He was frowning. When his phone beeped, he answered the call straight away.

"Rachel, where's Grace?" He listened to his ex-wife for a moment. "Don't move, don't move. I'll be there in five minutes."

"Hey, what, what?" Steve tried to catch his friend's eye.

"Grace and Rachel got carjacked." replied Danny as he climbed into his car.

"Are they okay?" asked Kono.

"I don't know."

"Now listen," Steve leaned over to look at his friend, he tilted Danny's head up to make sure he was listening, "if you need anything, you call. All right? Anything."

"All right. I gotta go."

"Go, go, go." said Steve softly, running a hand over Danny's blonde hair before he sped off. "All right, uh, let's go."

Steve walked around and climbed up into his truck instead as Kono and Chin decided to ride with him. He smirked slightly, wondering why they didn't mind his truck in comparison with the camaro. Did they not like scrambling into the back seat?

The car journey was quite without Danny, but at the house Steve got out and told HPD to secure the perimeter as they headed inside.

They found the body of the marshal before they even got inside. He was dead.

The house was empty, but there were clues left behind. Footprints revealed that two men had entered, size eleven feet. The marshal had not locked up so they must have been wearing HPD uniforms. Chin headed off to check the blue and white outside. They found where Julie had been and they could see she had fought back using a lighter and aerosol.

"So, she burns her shooter and dives through a window." said Kono. "I really hope she's alive cos I wanna meet her."

Chin called him back outside, they had found the stripped bodies of two officers in the boot. She was in the forest, being hunted by professional assassins. They had to go find her. She needed to testify before five o'clock or Brenner could be released on bail.

They geared up for a hunt through the trees; Steve packed a bag, some water and various other supplies and he changed his shirt to a light beige one.

Kono was going to contact the US attorney and find out what she could about the defendant Aaron Brenner and then check with the DEA. She was going to find out who the Baja cartel contracts its hits to so they could know what they were up against.

Plus Chin would never forgive him in he took Kono in with them like this when there was other work that needed doing.

As they headed into the forest, Chin asked how he could track them. Steve explained that if you could see what was out of context with nature and know what caused it, you could generally manage.

"Like that flat overturned rock back up there." He decided to give an example. "It would have taken a 200 pound man running downhill to do that. That rock also indicates they're about an hour ahead of us."

"Really? The rock told you that?"asked Chin in a flat voice. Steve grinned slightly, thinking that a rant on the end of that about talking rocks would have finished it off nicely.

They continued on downhill, when Steve spotted a freshly broken off leaf. In the cover of some dense foliage, Julie Masters was sat grasping a large shard of glass. Steve smiled, she was a fighter. As Chin patched her up, she commanded them to get her to the courtroom so she could testify.

"Chin will get you there." he told her. He would go back and find the assassins. He told Chin to avoid using his gun, it was loud, and then he told Julie to give him her shoes. Heels were not an advantage in this terrain and he could lay some false tracks for the men to follow.

They split up, Steve aware of a voice in the back of his mind that sounded an awful lot like Danny scolding him for going off without backup.

Steve covered his face in dark face paint. He carefully pressed the false tracks down, and then began to set a trap, using some rope from the rucksack. He stuck one shoe in the mud underneath the branch he had tied up, before grabbing the loose bit of rope, throwing it over a sturdy branch and beginning to hoist the thing up into the air.

As he focussed on the job, his satellite phone began to buzz.

"Danny. Are Grace and Rachel okay?" he whispered.

"_Yeah. They are safe, but I am sick. I'm in the middle of a panic attack, okay?_" Steve could hear the irritation in his voice. He sounded more angry than scared. "_This little incident just shaved five years off of my life. What's up with the witness? You find her yet?_"

"Yeah. Yeah, but don't you worry about that. Okay?" If they got into it, Steve would mention he was in the woods all by himself while tracking two professional assassins. It wouldn't go down well. "You stay with your family. Don't come here."

"_Okay, I'm not. I'm actually on my way to the airport._"

"What are you talking about, airport? Why, are you going someplace?" He had a bad feeling about this, Steve mused as he tightened his grip on the rope.

"_Well, Stan..." _Danny sighed. "_Stan comes home and I'm gonna offer him a lift home._" Steve lost his footing slightly in surprise. What did Stan have to do with this?

"Danny, what are you doing?"

"_I'm not doing anything_." replied Danny in a voice that clearly stated he was. Steve scoffed.

"Listen, okay?" He stopped to get both hands on the rope, pinning the phone to his shoulder, still talking quietly. "I may not be able to see you, okay? But I can hear you and you have a tone."

"_I don't have a tone. I don't have a tone._"

"Okay. You say I have a face. You, my friend, you have a tone. Okay?" Steve knew Danny's different tones; he spent a great deal of time listening to the man talk. "And it's a tone that says I'm gonna hit somebody. Now, what's going on?"

"_Okay. I think that Stan, I- In fact, I know that Stan has something to do with what happened with Grace and Rachel._"

"Okay. Is that based on anything other than the fact that you hate the man?"

"_I do not hate the man. But, yes it is, okay? They stole his car. They- they got his car, not hers, okay? And they return it in an hour and they didn't take anything. All right? The house was broken into, ransacked and just like the car, they took nothing, okay? Th- that... Does that sound normal to you?_"

Steve opened his mouth to say something, but Danny wasn't done.

"_All right, my daughter sleeps in that house, okay? A- and if Stan has anything to do with that, I'm going to encourage him to tell me what he knows._"

"Okay. Listen to me, all right?" Steve whispered as soon as there was a gap. "I get that you're pissed, all right? I can hear thatbut whatever you do, do not touch him. Okay? Do not touch him."

"_Yeah, I understand. But, you gotta understand that I'm a father, all right? And this is my daughter we're talking about._"

"Yeah, and you're also a cop with a gun, okay?" hissed Steve. "And when those worlds cross, it gets messy, Danny."

"_Yeah, well I'm not the one who crossed them. Just don't worry about me please. Just get your witness to court, okay?_"

"No. No." he wasn't going to focus on anything else till he knew Danny was all right. "Hey, hey, hey Danny? Danny? Fuck." The man had hung up on him. As soon as this was done, he'd do something about that.

His trap worked. He caught one man in the chest with the branch, sending him flying. He was knocked out, though not for too long. When he woke up again, Steve got the man to tell him what he wanted while he sharpened a piece of bamboo, making the man think he was going to torture him wasn't the same as actually torturing him.

Three assassins had been sent to Hawaii. They had come from San Jose, Costa Rica. In return, Steve stuck the sharpened bamboo into the man's chest. It was the only way to re inflate the collapsed lung, but he gave the man a stick to bite down on while he did it.

As soon as he was done, he called Kono.

"_Kono."_

"Did you hear form Chin Ho?"

"_No, why, you don't have eyes on him?_"

"No. We split up and he has the witness." Steve explained. "Don't worry, he'll be fine. What you got?"

Kono had had no luck, so Steve relayed the information he had gotten. He told her that they were looking for three shooters and a cleaner, who was another assassin, but an unknown one to the rest of the team so that their identity couldn't be given away.

Kono found one flight from Costa Rica to Honolulu from the day before. Three passengers had paid in cash. She got the photos of them, but was unable to identity a cleaner. Steve told her to run facial recognition through the records and look for clues. He glanced down at the guy at his feet, and then told her to send a med evac to land nearby and proceed on foot to the coordinates he read out to her.

He left the man and went back to tracking the other. He sort of wished he had asked her to check on Danny, but she already had enough to do.

He found the other man easily enough. He wasn't making much effort to hide his tracks. It was even easier when he heard Chin and Julie go past on a bike, the other assassin following in a truck, with one hand out, shooting.

He caught Chin's eye, giving him a nod as he passed, then jumped out in the path of the truck and drew his gun. He shot the guy dead, and then pulled him out the vehicle. Chin and Julie doubled back and climbed in with Steve. As Chin drove, Steve called to update HPD.

Once at the court house, they separated from the witness. She left with Prosecuting Attorney Roberts to get cleaned up a bit and Steve and Chin headed outside. It was a phone call from Kono that had them doubling back before Steve had even phoned Danny. Brenner's co-counsel was the cleaner.

By the time they got there, Kono had already taken care of the problem.

"You know, there might be a few other things I could teach you." Said Chin seriously. "But I think you got the whole ass-kicking thing down." The cousins grinned.

Steve sighed and followed them through to the court room. Danny could wait another few minutes. He watched Julie Masters testify, then headed back to clean up and write his report; Danny couldn't do this one for him.

* * *

"Hey." Danny walked in while Steve was washing the dishes up after his dinner.

"Hey, Danno. You all right?"

"Yes, actually." He pulled a beer out the fridge and went over to collapse on the couch; Steve pulled the plug out the sink, dried his hands then grabbed a beer as well and joined him.

"You look confused."

"No, that's not it." Danny grinned at him as he kicked his shoes off and put his socked feet up. "I just realised Stan isn't that bad of a guy."

"Really."

"Yeah."

"Should I be jealous?" Steve teased gently. Danny laughed and pulled Steve's arm around his shoulders.

"No need to worry, babe. You are my very best friend." He battered his eyes lids for a moment, before they both started laughing.

Steve pressed a kiss down onto Danny's head. He still hadn't gotten around to exploring how it was he felt about Danny or what he thought about the idea of _elements_, but for now things were good.


	9. John McGarrett Once More

John was sitting and watching his son's team enjoy a barbeque. Kono and Chin seemed to be competing in a drinking competition with one another; neither of them had passed out yet, so John wasn't sure who was winning. Steve was tossing Grace in the air, her shrieks of joy permeating the whole area. Danny Williams was half watching them as he sat on the lanai, cradling a bottle of beer in between his hands.

Keala was sat beside him, her curiosity about Steve and his friends leading her to dropping hints about seeing them... not that John was sure she could see anything, her eyes still never focussed, but she was almost grinning as she listened.

"It's strange." He told her. "I have never seen Steve so happy."

"You think they are good for him." she replied gently.

"They are, but Grace in particular. It may seem strange, but watching Steve with a child... I never thought I would see this side of him. I wasn't sure it existed."

"You sound proud."

"I am. I wish I had told him so, but to be honest, when I died... well, we hadn't seen each other in some time. We didn't really talk..."

"You have another chance..." She turned her face towards him; evidence of a new idea was emerging in her body language. "Use Grace."

"What?"

"Ask Grace to tell your son you're proud of him."

"I have thought about it." he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck as he tried to think of the best way to explain his reluctance. "Look, the first problem is talking to Grace."

"You said she likes to talk to you."

"She does, but I have an ugly wound from where I died. It can't be good to expose a child to that."

"She sees that kind of thing anyway because of her bloodline."

"Another problem is... Well, I really don't wanna make her scream again. What if she sees the way I died again? I don't want to traumatise her."

"Again, if she sees that it will be because of her bloodline. Even if you avoid her, she will eventually come across one of us who set that... retro cognition off again."

"Retro cognition?"

"Yes. Retro, or backwards. Cognition, or knowing. Backwards knowledge, or knowing the past. She can see the past."

"But I was the one who set it off."

"But in all the time since you met her you haven't done it again. What's your next excuse?"

"Steve. He doesn't really believe them. I think he accepts there is something odd about them, and I know he can't conceive the idea that Grace is a liar, but... I think he finds it a little too far-fetched."

"How odd..."

"I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't... well, living it... as it were."

"Strange... My parents raised me to accept such things."

"I'm sorry I failed to do so..."

"You did not know."

"No."

"Well, I shall leave. Kalakaua has won their drinking competition." John looked up to see Chin had passed out on the table. Kono was cheering as she struggled to her feet.

"You care who wins?"

"Family reputation." She gave her oddly detached grin, which John found himself returning. He wouldn't be surprised if they were related, everyone seemed to be linked to that family in some way, but he knew she could just be having him on again.

"Aloha." he gave her a little wave as she faded out of sight.

He wondered if he ought to ask Grace to talk to Steve for him. Was he just being chicken and thinking excuses for no real reason? He left the group to settle in his usual room, upstairs. He had to think about it.

Half an hour later, he could hear Steve reading a chapter from Harry Potter to Grace as she settled down for bed.

* * *

"Come on, Danno."

"I'm not sure... You really think that thing'll run?"

"Yeah!"

Steve and Danny were standing in the garage as Grace cleaned her teeth in the bathroom. John was watching them bicker about whether or not to take the marquis out. He rather thought it was a good idea, it should run and it was a beautiful ride.

"Come on, Danno." whined Steve, as he slung an arm around Danny's shoulders and pulled him close.

"Not to take Grace to school in."

"Why not? We can drop her off then go for a drive before work." John flinched slightly, remembering what he used to use 'going for a drive' as a euphemism for... but Steve and Danny still hadn't got their acts together in that department.

"Steve..."

"Please?"

"Ugh... fine."

"Yes! I'm driving."

"Of course you are."

He watched the two gather their stuff together, Steve washing the dishes carefully as Danny transferred some of Steve's collection from the boot of the camaro to the marquis.

"I'll see you later, Grandpa John."

"_See you, Gracie._" He grinned down at her. Her attention had moved over to Steve, where he seemed to be trying to wrestle something off Danny.

"I wish they would just kiss."

"_Me too_."

"Do you think it'll be like in the stories? Where they have true love's kiss and the blue line appear between them?"

"_Blue line?_" He tried to remember any fairytales with blue lines mentioned in them, but couldn't.

"Yeah. Then we can all live happily ever after."

"_We'll just have to wait and see_."

"I think I'll tell daddy he should just kiss Uncle Steve. Bye." She hurried off before John could mention that she should possibly use more tact than that. Then again, his own efforts of freezing Danny enough so that he jumped into Steve's arms and they got a hint weren't working at all. There wasn't much you could do as an intangible ghost, apparently.

He spent the day wandering about, trying to decide. He would have liked to ask others what they thought he should do, but he didn't want knowledge of Gracie to get out. If people knew that Grace could see them and could talk to their loved ones... even those who seemed nice could over react. He didn't want anyone to scare the precious little girl.

He didn't see Keala by the bus stop, but he supposed it could wait; Grace wouldn't be back for another eleven days anyway.

It was the next evening that John came back to the house; once there Danny was the first one John heard.

"Why? Why do you keep grenades in my car? I knew I should have checked out everything you keep in there."

"At least you're talking to me now. It's weird when you don't say anything." Steve gave Danny a bright grin, but Danny just scowled at him. "Next time, I'll just have to remember that the way to win you over is to feed you."

"Next time? Excuse me, did you say next time? That is not happening again, Steven. Do you know how difficult the reports for this are going to be? I have to explain how we checked out the pirates on information we got by you breaking and entering using a grenade!"

Steve removed his last boot and walked over to Danny. He placed his hands on the smaller man's shoulders and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead.

"Go get some sleep. We have all the parents flying in tomorrow."

"I know." Danny looked slightly dazed. He turned and headed upstairs.

John looked at Steve, who was staring up at Danny's disappearing figure.

"_Come on, Steve. You're clever. You can work this out._"

Steve just locked up and put the alarm on though, before he headed upstairs to go to bed. The two were still sleeping in the same bed; he rather despaired at how slow Steve was actually being.

* * *

John decided the next day that he would go and visit Grace in her school. She wore the uniform for the Sacred Heart Academy.

He knew where it was, vaguely. He spent more time than he cared to admit walking around searching for it, but he found it. Once inside, he watched the children milling about, walking through him. One child shuddered when he walked through John, but he wasn't Grace.

It wasn't until lunch hour that John found his pseudo-granddaughter. She was sat in a corner with two other children, but she grinned when she saw him. She politely excused herself before calmly leaving the room and heading through numerous corridors to a bathroom.

"Grandpa John!" She cried happily once they were inside.

"_Shh... Someone might hear._" He said gently.

"No they won't." She put a hand on her hip and gave John an intense look that was entirely Danny. "No one comes in this one."

"_Okay._" He replied, not wanting to argue.

"Are you okay? Why are you here?"

"_I just missed you._"

She grinned widely at him.

"Do you like it here?"

"_It sure is posh. You learning about what you wanna be when you grow up?_"

"Not here." She hoisted herself up onto the counter, between two sinks.

"_No?"_

"Nope. I want to be a professional tennis player?"

"_Really?_"

"Yeah. At first it was for daddy, because his apartment is horrible and you can earn money in tennis. But now he lives with Uncle Steve. Once they have figured out that they do live together and work out that it's because they love each other, then they can get married and live happily ever after."

"_But you still like tennis_?"

"Uh-huh. Rusty says I'm good at it, and Kale is there."

"_Who are Rusty and Kale_?"

"Rusty is my teacher and Kale is my friend. He's dead too, but he doesn't mind."

He smiled over at the child, her trainers thumping off the counter every time she swung her feet. She grinned at him.

"_You've eaten your lunch, right_?"

"Mm-Hmm. You missed most of lunch time."

"_I suppose I did_."

"Do you want to come visit mom's with me tonight? If you aren't doing anything..."

"_Really? I'd love to._"

Grace happily explained what they could do tonight and John just leaned back and listened to the girl ramble away, her conversation moving from things she liked, to things she disliked, to problems with her classmates and to every other topic in between... He was pleased they had met.

The afternoon dragged by as he listened to a mathematics class for eight and nine year old children and then he sat through a music lesson. He was pleased when the bell rang at the end of the day and everyone headed out.

"Can you ride in the car with us?" whispered Grace as they hurried down the steps, around a young boy who was sat on the steps with children running through him.

"_I don't think so. I couldn't ride the bus._"

"Oh." She looked crestfallen at the idea that he couldn't come back with her. "I don't know the way well enough to give directions."

"_Give me the address and I'll get there. I promise._"

And John managed to keep his promise. It was another hour before he managed to find the house. It was large, larger than his own home and it had a complicated looking security system, but he walked straight inside.

When he found Grace's room, she squealed and jumped up, happily laughing.

"Grandpa John! You made it_._"

There was a man sat on the floor beside her, he turned around in confusion.

"Grace? Who are you talking to?"

"It's Grandpa John. This is my Step-Stan." She introduced him.

"_Aloha, Stan... and Grace, of course._"

"He says 'aloha'." She smiled up at her step-father.

"No one's there..." Stan said softly, his blue eyes shining in confusion.

"_Maybe you should explain a bit, Gracie._"

"Okay..." She turned to look at the man, frowning as she decided what to say. "Umm... There are seven elements in the world."

"_Eight..._" He interrupted before he could stop himself.

"Eight? There is fire, water, air. Then mind and body, earth and death."

"_And space and time_."

"Space time? Like Star Trek?"

"_I don't know. I never watched Star Trek._"

"Okay..." She sighed and looked back at Stan. "There are seven elements, maybe eight but no one has ever proved the last one to anyone I know."

"Fire, water, earth, death... and the others?" asked Stan, hesitantly.

"Mind, air and body." Grace completed.

"And maybe... space time?" He scrunched his nose up at that, clearly lost again.

"Space and time. Like teleporting and skipping time."

"_I can skip time._" John realised. "_With a bit of focus, all dead people can._" He wondered if that proved it, but Stan was speaking over the top of him.

"Would mind include things like reading minds or controlling people?"

"Umm..." She looked up at John.

"_I think so._" He told her, so she nodded her head.

"Like your mother?"

"What?" Grace sat down on the bed as she looked over at Stan.

"Your mother can make people do what she wants them to do, right? You can't even argue until you get out the room."

"I... guess so. But Danno said mom was normal, so if she has a mind element, he doesn't know."

"_That explains your... What did Keala call it? Your retrocogntion._" added John.

"I have retrocognition? What's that?" Grace looked fascinated and Stan looked puzzled, his eyes were roaming the air around where John stood. It looked like the man believed Grace without any doubt.

"_Knowledge of the past. You know how fortune tellers can see the future? Well, you saw something that happened in the past._"

"Grace?" asked Stan.

"He says I'm like a backwards fortune teller. I saw Grandpa John get shot and die at Uncle Steve's house."

"You did? Grace!" Stan looked horrified, but Grace smiled softly.

"It's okay. Uncle Steve shot the man who killed him." John thought it best not to mention that Hesse hadn't actually died as a result.

"Okay. You're okay?"

"Yeah."

"Right." Stan put his head in his hands and took deep breaths.

"_My friend thinks that it is because your dad has the death element. She said it could be a mix of death and mind, so if your mom has the mind element in her family, that must be why._"

"A mix of mom's mind and dad's death?" She asked, and then giggled a little at the alliteration.

"_Yeah._"

"Your dad's dead?" John remembered that Stan could only hear one half of their conversation.

"No. Danno has the death element in his family."

"He can see dead people?"

"No. Danno can move dead bodies. I can see dead people and we both can see bloodlines."

"Bloodlines?"

"Uh-huh." She stood up and moved to sit in Stan's lap, taking his left hands in both of hers. "You have red lines to show who you are related to. I have one to Danno; I have another one to mom. She has one to each of her parents. I have ones to my aunties and uncles."

"Do you have one with me?"

"No. You're family cos you married mom. I don't have one to Uncle Steve either. But you get red ones and you can get a blue one."

"What's that one for?" Stan asked, beating John to the question.

"Blue is your true love line. Danno says it's not exactly because it could happen between any two people, but it can only happen once."

"So, when you get married?"

"Not always. Not everyone gets one. You and mom don't have one, but sometimes I think Uncle Steve and daddy do."

"Sometimes?"

"It has to grow. That's why daddy says it isn't a true love line, because it needs time to grow up, like when you plant a seed. It doesn't just happen with a kiss."

Stan nodded and cuddled the young girl. John wished he could do the same.

"Uncle Matty is coming next week, you know."

"That's... your dad's brother?"

"Yeah. He's pretty cool. Will you be able to meet him?"

I don't think so, honey. I'm going to Boston in two days, remember?" As the two chatted about Uncle Matty, John headed outside and began a walk around the island, his question on what to do about getting Grace to talk to Steve still unanswered. He wondered if he could get Grace to tell her dad about her mother's ability to control minds...

* * *

"I don't understand why he would invite her." It was a few days later and John had been relaxing in his room, listening to the radio. He could hear Danny's voice through the door as he headed into their bedroom.

"He must have thought it would be nice for Grace to see you and Rachel getting along."

"It's ridiculous." John got up and stood outside the bedroom door. It made him feel a little creepy, but he didn't want to go in if they were getting changed or anything. "I have only just reached the stage where I can actually talk to her. Why would he think I might want to meet up with her again?"

"I dunno, Danny." Steve sighed.

"It's been eighteen months since we got divorced and she left me. He sat with me every night for six months to stop me doing something stupid. Why would he think this is a good idea?"

"Come here."

"Why would they be after him anyway? I can't believe they think my brother is some kind of... criminal..." Danny's voice was getting more and more distressed.

"Danny? Come here."

"You wanna hug?"

"Yes."

It was pretty quiet after that, so John went back to his room. He wondered if Grace had had a good time though. She had been looking forward to her uncle coming to visit.

* * *

The next evening, Danny turned up at the door in tears while John and Steve were watching a documentary on the telly.

"H-he left. Steve, he left."

Steve stood up and pulled Danny into his arms.

"I- I was gonna go see Rachel, but I needed to see you first. I- He said shoot him or leave. He's my brother..."

"I'm sorry, Danny." Whispered Steve.

As Danny continued to break down, his anxieties moving onto what he would say to Grace, to his parents, Steve dropped them both onto the couch. John stood up when they dropped through him and stood looking down at them for a moment; Steve was gently rocking Danny, pressing kisses over his face while he reassured him.

John had wanted the men to have a push to get them closer; this wasn't it.


	10. Grace Williams Once More

Grace cried when her dad told her that Uncle Matty had left early. She didn't want to, especially not when it made Danno look so sad, but he hadn't even said goodbye to her. She stormed up to her room and hid there, slamming doors as she went. Her bedroom door was designed to shut softly, so she gave it a kick just to make a point.

It was her birthday next week, so she had been hoping he could stay for her party. She was having a big party. It wasn't really what she wanted to do, but her mom insisted the best way to do well in life was to have good friends. Grace sort of had a feeling her mom didn't much like Katie, Tommy or Laura; they were her best friends, but she wasn't allowed to have them stay over when her mom was around.

Danno was going to have a small party for her though. He told her they would have it at Uncle Steve's and that she could invite who she wanted. It was very exciting and Grace really couldn't wait. Her mom was going to San Francisco for something in two weeks, so that was when her proper party would be.

She was invited her dad, Uncle Steve, Uncle Chin, Kono and Kamekona. Then she would ask Katie, Tommy and Laura, and if she was allowed then Step-Stan as well, so that he didn't get too lonely at home all by himself. Grandpa John was going to be there too.

They had balloons already, as well as streamers and party bags. Stan had helped, because her mom had made everything for the big party. It wasn't that she didn't want to have the party her mom was doing; there would be a big cake, lots of presents and a bouncy castle; it was just that she didn't exactly like everyone her mom had invited... She'd just have to avoid talking to them. She didn't want to tell her mother that she wasn't one of the popular kids in school; Danno might understand, but her mom was the prettiest, most popular person ever, so she might not.

Stan had agreed to do anything she needed help with for either of her parties, but she told him that her dad and Uncle Steve had one end covered, and her mom was doing everything for the other one. He had looked sad at that, so she decided they could make the party invitations together.

While they had been making them, while newspaper down to catch the glitter that missed the glue, Grandpa John visited. He had started that a few weeks ago, just before Uncle Matty had visited, and he kept coming back.

Sometimes he brought his friend, Keala along. Keala was actually kind of pretty, and Grace liked to talk to her, but she was a little scary. Her eyes never seemed to look at anything. However, when she had told Stan how creepy it was, he told her off. He said it wasn't as though Keala was doing it to scare her, and it didn't make her any less of a person. She knew he was probably right, even though Keala was dead, so she did her best to act the same around the woman.

Grandpa John didn't always talk when he came to visit, so Grace figured he was just fed up with Uncle Steve and Danno. She wasn't sure if they were dating now or not. Uncle Steve was always cuddling Danno, but her dad was just a very cuddly person. She hadn't seen them kissing or anything and they were actually living together now, her dad had started moving his stuff out of the teeny tiny little apartment he had been in before.

So, Grace just gave Grandpa John a smile as she picked up a purple felt-tip.

* * *

Grace's ninth birthday was possibly the best birthday anyone had ever had. Grandad Alan and Nana Val had visited from England, which was the most amazing party of her mom's birthday party. They had brought her some English candy and had then sat inside and complained about how hot it was. Stan had forced Grace to go outside and spend time with her guests though.

It had turned out to be better than she had thought it would be anyway. No one was nasty to her; they all smiled and laughed happily. It had been nice. It's not that she was bullied in school normally, just that the other children didn't ever seem to notice her.

She got lots of cool presents and a load of money, which she asked Stan to put in the money box he had given her. She would keep it safe and out of the way. Her new money box was in the shape of a doll's house, it was a pretty pink colour with purple and red in the windows.

The party at Uncle Steve's was even better. Everyone she had asked to be there had turned up. Laura showed up in a lovely green dress with sparkles. Tommy had a superman tee-shirt on with some nice shorts and Katie was wearing a pink skirt and a rainbow top. They had all remembered their swimming stuff.

Uncle Steve and Danno were there, and Steve had managed to get her dad to wear his denim shorts! Kono was there, in her little shorts and vest top and Uncle Chin was there in jeans and a shirt. Kamekona was there, and he brought them all shave ice. Katie, Tommy and Laura agreed that her dad had the coolest friends ever.

There was a man there she didn't know. He was called Max and he worked in the morgue. He also played the piano. She and her friends kept him playing different tunes for them for ages, and he taught her how to play happy birthday. He said if she ever wanted to learn, he would be happy to teach her.

There was a lady there called Jenna. She was a bit twitchy, but Grace did her best to be friendly to her anyway. Danno said she worked for the CIA and it had made her stressed.

Even Stan was there. He sat on the lanai and didn't really join in the party games, but he had turned up anyway. Grace saw him chatting to Danno for a long time, and then when Danno went inside he chatted to Kono instead.

Kono had come over to her after that and told her she had had to talk to Danno and Stan before she could give Grace her present. It was a surfboard! It wasn't a really big one, but Kono had said it was her size and that Danno had said she could get surf lessons. Grace had squealed happily! Kono was going to teach her to surf!

The tall, pretty woman had said she was a good teacher, and she had even got Danno to surf a bit on the water.

Grace had then spent a good deal of time showing off her board to her friends. Tommy told her he had been able to surf since he was three, and that he was going o be in competitions soon because he was so good. Katie pushed him over and told him to stop lying, and they had all laughed.

It had been the best birthday ever, though it had been a little sad when she had had to say goodbye to her friends because their parents had come for them. Grandpa John had told her she should just ask for a sleepover next year so that everyone could stay longer. Apparently Aunty Mary had had loads of those when she was little.

Once everyone had gone, Grace had had a mug of hot chocolate and then Uncle Steve had carried her upstairs. She still had to get changed and put her pyjamas on, but then he had read her the next chapter of Harry Potter, where they had been in the Forbidden Forrest with Hagrid and had met some centaurs.

As Grace fell asleep, thoughts of men with the bodies of horses dancing through the trees in her mind, she heard Stan whisper goodnight and give her a kiss. She drifted off before she could remember hearing Danno though.

When Grace came downstairs the next morning, still wearing her wearing her Princess and the Frog pyjamas, Danno and Uncle Steve were already up. Uncle Steve had her dad pressed up against the wall and was talking very quietly to him. She crept slowly into the room, crouching down and hardly daring to breathe.

Maybe they would kiss now...

"Steve... I can't." Danno said, sounding sad.

"Why not? Tell, Danny? Because I think you are just scared."

"It won't work."

"I don't believe that."

"You'll leave me! Everyone leaves me!" Before Grace could jump up and hug her dad at that, before she could explain that she _had_ to go to Step-Stan's, that she didn't like to leave her dad, before she could do anything, Uncle Steve called her dad an idiot and then kissed him.

She gasped as what she had always thought was just a pretend idea actually happened; the blue line that had occasionally been appearing between her dad and Uncle Steve actually formed fully. It was a thick line of baby blue looping from a finger on Steve's hand to the same finger on her dad's hand.

She cheered and threw herself at them; she finally had a Step-Steve! Before they could say anything, she ran off to find Grandpa John. Hopefully, he would be around somewhere so she could tell him.

She couldn't find him anywhere, which meant he had to be moving through time again like he did sometimes. Instead, she borrowed Danno's mobile phone to call Stan and tell him. He was happy for them, and then asked if she was meant to be getting ready for school... She hung up and hurried off to get breakfast.

* * *

A few weeks later and nothing really changed. Steve and Danno still argued all the time; Danno had said it was something they enjoyed doing, and she could tell when they were actually angry and when they were just arguing to hear their voices... That was something her mom said a lot, that Danno liked to hear himself speak.

Honestly though, she thought Danno liked to hear Uncle Steve talk more.

They still lived together and they still invited their friends over for team barbeques. Those were a lot of fun. Kono had started to teach Grace how to surf, but she wasn't very good at it yet. Kono said that her dad took ages before he could stand up on the board when it was on the sand too, which made her feel better.

The only real difference was that Grandpa John wasn't there anywhere near as often now. He said he still checked how everyone was doing, but he wasn't so worried about Uncle Steve anymore.

It made Grace rather sad, but he had promised that as long as he could come back and visit her, then he would.

It made her even sadder when she told Uncle Steve and he told her he was thinking about redecorating the room Grandpa John had been staying in into a guest room. It still had posters on the walls from when Uncle Steve had been younger, so it needed some changes making to it.

Grace helped with the planning, because she was a super decorator. They were going to have three cream walls and one red wall, with a light brown carpet. Because the window was on one of the cream walls, the curtains would be red. She convinced Uncle Steve to paint a gold border around the top of the room, but he said the door and the windowsill and the skirting board all had to be white.

She was all ready to do it in the second week in April when the plans changed. Danno turned up to pick her up from school, but he told her they couldn't start the decorating straight away. Uncle Steve had slipped over while they had been out walking and he had broken his arm.

Uncle Steve let her sign his cast though, and she looked at what other people had written... Danno hadn't signed his name on it. She asked the tall man why not, but he just said that Danno was with him all the time, so he didn't need his name written on the cast to remind Steve of him.

She smiled at that and added Step-Stan's name on the cast as well, because he liked Steve too.

The next day, Uncle Chin turned up with Kono to help. She told Grace that their auntie had died, so they had decided to help with painting the room while the funeral arrangements were sorted. Grace supposed that meant that Kono and Uncle Chin didn't want to be alone.

Her mom said people liked company when they were sad, so Grace did her best to cheer them up. They helped empty all of Uncle Steve's old clothes, and Grace wrote the labels on the charity bags they were stored in for later. Then Uncle Chin helped her dad move the furniture either out of the room or into the centre of the room and then they covered it with really big white sheets.

Grace helped Kono make lunch and Uncle Steve sat and sulked because no one would let him do anything.

When they had all eaten, there were big sheets covering the floor as well, but Danno gave her a roller and some paint and told her they needed to paint all over the top of all the old blue paint to make it white. Kono told her that it didn't need to be perfect, because they were going to add the proper paint over the top of it, but it needed a white wash first.

It was great fun though. She wasn't allowed to do around the door or the window and she had to be careful of the closet, but she did the big expanses of the other walls. She was even allowed up the ladder to paint higher on the wall, though Danno watched her carefully because he was a fuss pot and wanted to make sure she didn't fall.

By the end of the day, the walls were all a sort of white colour, though you could kind of still see the blue underneath them. Grace didn't care by then though. She sat sleepily in her dad's arms while he ran her a bath and got her cleaned, she roused herself enough to clean her teeth and pull her pyjamas on, but she was asleep before her dad put her to bed.

The next day was more of the same. It was a Sunday though and Danno said she could only help with the red wall because if she did too much she would be too tired for school the next day.

It was a little sad, but she ended up having a lot of fun with the red paint. It looked really good and while they were washing up, she had an idea. She asked Uncle Steve if he would mind if they all dipped their hands in white paint and left hand marks on the wall. He liked the idea, and Danno said it was fine but they needed to wait for the paint to dry.

After agreeing to do it on Wednesday, Grace stood by the door in the half decorated room and though.

She wondered if Grandpa John might be able to leave a hand mark if he focused enough. She would like it if he could, but he hadn't been around while they had been redecorating. She turned to leave, her mind made up that they could try.

She couldn't wait for the room to be finished.


End file.
